


Good Times, Bad Times

by Writer_Geekgirl



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Castiel/Dean Winchester in the Bunker, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, F/M, Falling In Love, First Kiss, M/M, Post-Season/Series 12, Supernatural - Freeform, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-15
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-15 00:32:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 56,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13019481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writer_Geekgirl/pseuds/Writer_Geekgirl
Summary: Five years after Castiel and Dean got married, a new enemy appears from the shadows. Can Dean, Castiel, and Sam figure out how to fight an enemy that knows them well and that holds a grudge that they don't understand? And when an intrepid reporter crosses their trail, how do the boys stay out of the spotlight while still taking on a supernatural threat they haven't experienced before? Castiel's and Dean's relationship becomes frayed as tensions rise.Otherwise known as the Sam Winchester and Astrid LeBeau: A Love Story.





	1. Happy Anniversary

**Author's Note:**

> This story is based in the same universe as the series Castiel and Dean: A Love Story. You can read this story as a standalone unit if you accept that Castiel and Dean as an established couple that have a golden retriever named Gabe. Note that while others in the series are fluffy-ish, standalone short story, this work is more novel-like.
> 
> Note: The title of this work is based on the name of a Led Zeppelin song.

Dean, Castiel, and Sam walked slowly into the bunker. Their Golden Retriever, Gabe, bounded down the stairs. They had just taken out a vampire nest in Flagstaff, Arizona, and they were exhausted.

"Cas, should we do a beer run?" Dean asked.

"Tomorrow is soon enough. Right now, I want a shower and bed." Castiel stretched.

Sam pulled out his phone as he got a text message. "Crap, Garth just texted me. There might be a nest in Oklahoma City."

Dean groaned, "I'm so damn tired of vampires. Couldn't we find a ghoul or a werewolf or something?"

"Errr," Sam fidgeted a moment after looking at his phone. "Do you guys know what date it is?"

Dean groaned, "I don't even know what day of the week it is."

Understanding dawned in Castiel's eyes. "Dean, it's September 18."

Dean stopped short. "Our fifth anniversary? Or fifteenth depending on how you look at it." Five years earlier on this date, Dean had taken Castiel back to the barn where they met and the two exchanged rings. "Damn, freaking vampires couldn't give us the day off."

Sam looked at them as he shrugged out of his coat, "Happy anniversary, guys. You two go on to bed and I'll start researching the Oklahoma thing."

Dean and Castiel exchanged looks. "You sure, Sam?" Dean pulled out a chair. "I'd be happy to help you."

"I'm sure guys. You should go out have a nice dinner and a nice hotel room with a great view, celebrate in style, but I know you are all too tired for that. If all I can do is give you a good night's sleep, I'll give that to you." Sam smiled. "I love you two."

Castiel hugged Sam. "Thank you, Sam. I love you too."

Castiel headed in the direction of his and Dean's room. Dean continued to stand there, looking like he wanted to sit down. "Sam, I don't mind…"

"Go, Dean, before I get angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." Sam said in a playfully gruff voice.

"Ok, Sasquatch-hulk. Yell if you need anything." Dean started down the hallway after Castiel.

Sam stared at the hallway until he heard Dean's door short. He sat down at the table and pulled out his laptop. Gabe came up and put his head on Sam's knee. Sam petted him absent-mindedly.

"You know, Gabe. I'm so envious of those two. What they have. What they feel for each other."

Gabe barked at Sam once.

Sam played with Gabe's ears. "I know, I know. I have you, buddy. I just… Ever since Eileen died, I just haven't wanted to let anyone near. Dean's always had Cas. He's always had that someone he could just go to beyond me since we were in our 20s. Look at me, 41 and no prospects in sight." Gabe looked at Sam forlornly, licking his hand.

"It's not like I want to give up what I have. I love living here with them, helping other hunters, hunting things, saving people. I can't see myself ever living apart from the two of them. And, Cas is my best friend too. It's just… sometimes, nights like this…" Sam trailed off. He looked off in the distance. "Nights like this, I find myself talking to a dog instead of a person and I wonder what life could have been if those British bastards hadn't murdered Eileen. Or hell, if the demons hadn't killed Jess. Or if Amelia's husband hadn't been found alive after all."

Sam stood up and walked over to the cabinet they kept the whiskey in and poured himself a stiff drink. He wandered to the library table where Dean and Sam, and later Cas, had carved their names in many years before. Sam took a drink of the whiskey and looked back at Gabe. "Is that my legacy, the lives that we saved? Two salty hunters and one messed up angel saved the world lots and nobody knows it."

Gabe barked in response. Sam laughed, "No, you are right, Gabe. I'm feeling sorry for myself. I have a good home, a great family, people I love and who love me. I have enough. And right now, we got some more vampires to hunt."

Sam opened the laptop and started looking for the news stories that Garth had texted about. The trio had hunted vampires four times in a row. For some reason, there was a real uptick in vampire cases, while everything else had settled down some. It had been ages since they had to mess with a demon. Even longer since they had seen an angel beside Castiel. Normally, cases were a stray ghost here, a wraith there, but lately, it seemed vampires were coming out of the woodwork. It gave Sam an uneasy feeling. Basically, whenever anything was different in the supernatural world, it was a cause for concern. Monsters typically acted a certain way, and they have acted that way for centuries. When they started to act different, it usually means that a new player entered the field.

Sam heard laughter coming from Dean’s and Castiel's room and smiled to himself. He loved the fact that Dean and Castiel were still so happy with each other after such a long time. Their relationship was about the happiest he'd ever seen, although it had had a very rocky start. Since Castiel had turned his back on angels six years ago and joined Sam and Dean full time, it had been fairly smooth sailing.

He read over the case file of the victims. It all seemed consistent with a vampire attack. "Yep, Gabe, we'll be heading to Oklahoma tomorrow."

Sam walked to the kitchen and poured dog food into a bowl for Gabe and gave him fresh water. "Night, bud. See you early in the morning." Sam headed to his bedroom. He could hear Led Zeppelin's song _The Rain_ playing in Dean's and Castiel's room. He smiled faintly as he entered his room, and closed the door.


	2. Hot on the Trail

Astrid LeBeau felt restless. She had just submitted a story on human trafficking in southern California that had taken her eight months of hardcore research to tie up. She had laid open the seedy underbelly of an industry that treated people as commodities with disgusting displays of greed and lack of human dignity. She felt tainted from her job as if the people she had to talk to and the conditions she had to observe had somehow diminished her own humanity.

She walked over to the mirror and stared at herself. She had seen a lot in her 32 years. She had served four years in the U.S. Marines, three of which she was deployed to Afghanistan and other hot spots in the world. After leaving the military and finishing her journalism degree, she returned to the hot spots as a war correspondent. That move had cost her dearly. She didn't want to dwell on that. For the last three years, she did freelance investigations into issues that concerned her. She knew that what she did would help the FBI and local authorities crack down on human trafficking in the area, but there was just so much more bad out there.

She gazed at herself in the mirror critically. She saw a few grey hairs on her temple, but that didn't concern her much. She could accept aging or she might dye it, she didn't care much either way. Her dark hair, tan skin, and blue eyes were a striking combination. She knew how to dress in to fit at the most exclusive parties and look like she belonged, but her everyday clothes were green or grey cargo pants, a Henley t-shirt, a denim jacket and work boots. 

Her job almost paid the bills, but it was more of a labor of love. Thanks to a generous trust fund from her grandmother, mundane things like bills didn't impact her too much. She was the family black sheep for sure. Her older sisters had married respectively a doctor and a lawyer. They had gone to Ivy League colleges for the main purpose of finding a suitable man for whose arm they were to decorate. When she balked at doing that, her father had threatened to disown her. She told him she didn't give a damn and joined the military.

She never regretted her impulsiveness to do that. She had learned a lot from being in the Marines. She learned that some men would always be Neanderthal assholes regardless of what you said, how to shoot a can off a fence at 200 meters away, and that no matter how well you plan, something will disrupt that plan. She also learned about the amount of human misery caused by war. 

After finishing her tour of duty and still having a modicum of youthful optimism, she decided that if she went back to college and finished a degree in journalism that she could expose the truth of what was happening in far-flung war zones. Instead, all she learned was that no matter how much she tried and how hard she fought, change was slow in coming. After losing someone dear to her, she returned to the states with very little optimism left. 

And that brought her to now, sitting in her lonely apartment at a loss at what to take on next. She might not have solved the world's problems, but maybe her investigative report would make life better for a few of the people she met while researching her story.

She went over to her fridge, opened the door, and grabbed a beer. She popped off the lid and walked over to her laptop. She started scanning news sites for anything that struck her as unusual. She paused when she saw the headline, "Four men decapitated in Flagstaff, Arizona." She read the story in detail. No motives had been found for their deaths. All four men had been in the area for about six months. 

She brought up newspaper archives for Flagstaff. She skimmed crime reports. She didn't see anything about decapitations but did find that six women and two men had died in a 200-mile radius from puncture wounds and injuries to the neck in the previous six months. That all had stopped after the men were decapitated. Her interest peaked.

She started researching the four men. Prior to moving to Flagstaff, they all had resided in Shreveport, Louisiana. Digging through the data, she realized that during the six months that they were in Shreveport that there was another spate of killings from neck wounds. Her eyebrows raised. Perhaps, taking out the men wasn't random, but some sort of vigilante action. She chewed on her bottom lip mindlessly and she brought up crime photos from the neck wound killings from both areas.

Her eyes narrowed as she saw a man in a trench coat in more than one of the crime scene photos. He reminded her of Columbo from the old television series. As she glanced through more pictures, she noticed an abnormally tall guy stood next to him quite often. Occasionally, she could pick out a shorter man that she thought might be in more than one picture.

She leaned back in her chair. If those men were taking out serial killers was that such a bad thing? She ran her fingers through her hair. She didn't really care for vigilantes. Oftentimes, they killed someone for something and justified it in a way that didn't actually ring true when you looked at the details and dug into the underpinnings of the causes and people they thought they were 'protecting.' Astrid was very much a data-driven person. 

She sighed. Sometimes, she wished there was someone to just take out the bad guys and save the innocent people that were caught up in their wake, but that was for the justice system to decide. Her role was merely to bring injustices to light and to let others solve the problem. It was becoming an increasing moral dilemma when she interviewed someone she knew was causing human misery. She just wanted them to stop.

She stood up and paced the room. All in all, she suspected the men that had been killed had murdered at least 13 people themselves. She could just walk away from this, strike it as one for the good guys, and let it go. It could be those three men in the crime scene photos were FBI agents and had already connected the crimes together. But then who killed the men in Flagstaff?

She returned to her laptop. She started searching crime databases for both neck wounds and decapitations and cross-correlated them. She found several different geographical groupings where both happened together. In every case, the neck-wound-related deaths stopped when the people were decapitated.

Digging up more crime photos, she found a few more shots of the trench coat dude and the tall guy. She then noticed an older model car showed up in a few of the shots from different locations. The car had Ohio plates, CNK 80Q3. She ran the plates through her own investigative tools (otherwise known as hacking) and determined that they belong to one Jeremiah Jensen in Toledo. She looked up Jeremiah Jensen only to find he died in 2007. Yet, someone was still paying the registration fee and the address for the car was linked to a warehouse on the outskirts of Toledo.

She chewed on the end of the pen she was taking notes with. Two, possibly three men, associated with a black '67 Impala had shown up at crime scenes across four states, all three men in their early to mid-40s.

She returned to her crime database and looked for neck injuries without decapitations. She found a recent rash of them within a 200-mile radius of Austin, Texas. She exclaimed, "Gotcha!"

She went to her closet, started shoving things in a duffel bag. She was heading to Texas.


	3. Adventures in Vampireland

Dean leaned against the side of the Impala at the truck stop, as he watched Castiel walk Gabe. Why he had ever thought getting a dog was a good idea, he would never know. Castiel patiently let Gabe lead to wherever he wanted to go. When Gabe finally took care of business, Castiel walked the dog back to Dean.

"Sorry, Dean. Gabe just needed to stretch his legs more than normal. He's been cramped up in the car for hours."

"It's ok, Cas. Sasquatch is still getting us dinner in the truck stop. I needed to stand up for a while anyway." Dean reached over and interlaced his fingers with Castiel's, bringing them to his lips for a quick kiss. In the five years since they had been married, Dean had gotten more comfortable with showing affection in public. 

Dean let go of Castiel's hand and walked back to the trunk and opened it. He glanced around to make sure no one was close enough to see in. He pulled out the false bottom from the trunk to double-check the machetes on top of the weapons stash. He gave them a critical eye, trying to decide if they needed to be sharpened before the next hunt. After a moment, he deemed them to be sharp enough. He closed the trunk, as Sam approached them with a bag of burgers and tray of drinks.

Castiel opened up the backdoor of the car and waited for Gabe to jump on the seat. Castiel then sat next to him, closing the door.

"Took you long enough, Sammy. Did they have to slaughter the cow for you specifically?"

Sam rolled his eyes at his older brother. He got into the passenger side of the car. He dug through the bag and passed an item wrapped in foil back to Castiel. Castiel unwrapped it, pulled out the plain hamburger patty and fed it to Gabe. Gabe wolfed it completely down before Dean could even get the car. 

Castiel petted Gabe while the dog investigated the backseat looking for anything he might have dropped.

"So, we're going back to Austin! Remember that time those girls tried to pick up, Cas, in that restaurant in Austin?" Dean looked in the rearview mirror at Castiel.

Castiel's nose wrinkled up in annoyance. "I smelled like a brewery by the time they were done with me."

Sam handed Dean his hamburger and drink. "So, Dean, this uptick in vampires. I've been thinking about it and I think it's related to the British Men of Letter's attempt to eradicate them six years ago. I think what happened after the Alpha vampire and more senior vamps died, it left an unsophisticated rabble without any leadership. So, they've been sort of operating in a vacuum with someone, or something, trying to fill that void."

Sam paused to take a bite out of his hamburger. He'd rather have a salad but those were much messier in the car.

"So, in the intervening years, we get a bunch of messy one-offs here and there that Mom, Claire, or some other hunter took care of. Now, we got something organizing those one-offs into groups." Dean said, chewing on his hamburger with a bit of ketchup dropping from the corner of his mouth.

"That's the gist. That's why they're always in groups of four lately. But, what I don't get is why they are feeding in such an obvious fashion. Why aren't they flying under the radar? It's almost like they want us to take them out."

Castiel offered, "Could it be part of some elaborate trap? Are they trying to lure us somewhere?"

Dean snorted, "If it is, it's the stupidest trap idea of all time. Let's go use 20 or so vamps as cannon fodder, so we can lure the Winchesters into some random location. Why not just make a big mess all at once and we'd dive in there?"

Sam shrugged, "I don’t know, Dean. I used to sort of understand vampires, but in this grand new scheme with the majority of the vamps being turned only in the last six or seven years, I don't have a clue. And the lore doesn't help when the vampires are not acting the way they didn't use to."

Dean finished his hamburger and put his trash in the bag. He put in the car in gear and pulled out on the highway. "Well, at least this group is in Austin. Sure beats the mess we had to deal with Flagstaff."

When they arrived in Austin, they checked into a hotel -- one room for Dean and Castiel, the other for Sam. Dean and Sam changed into their FBI garb, while Castiel fruitlessly tried to smooth out the wrinkles in his trench coat. Dean rolled his eyes at Castiel and leaned in to straighten his tie. Castiel reluctantly put Gabe in the bathroom of the hotel room, with food, a bowl of water, and a chew toy. He hugged the dog before closing the door.

When they ready, they drove to the coroner's office and introduced themselves as Agents Henley, Frey, and Walsh. Dean noted that the female coroner's name was Graham. "Dr. Graham, could you let us look at the latest victim for a moment?"

Dr. Graham pulled out the corpse from the autopsy bay. Castiel and Sam carefully looked at the neck wound, while Dean distracted Dr. Graham by asking her a lot of questions about what she thought about the victims and going over the autopsy report with her. As they left, Sam said, "Definitely a vampire slaying. This time probably a female vampire, given the size of the wound, or a younger, maybe teenage one."

"Well, the last two groups were all dudes so this would be different." Dean headed to the police department. When they arrived at the police station, Dean asked to see the officer in charge of the investigation.

A grumpy, grizzled looking man dressed in tan sports jacket and blue slacks came out. He reminded Dean a little bit of Bobby. "I'm Detective Evers. What can I do to help you?"

Dean flashed his FBI badge at the detective. "I'm Agent Henley, these are Agents Frey and Walsh. We'd like to ask you some questions about the recent murders." Sam and Castiel flashed their badges as well. "There have been similar killings in Shreveport, Oklahoma City, and Flagstaff and we are trying to determine if they are related."

The detective looked at them suspiciously. "All five of them are University of Texas students. They were found in a four-mile radius around the college campus, except for Cynthia Hernandez. She was found in north Austin in a greenbelt. All of them had similar wounds. Besides being students, there were no connections between them. Didn't live in the same dorm, no overlap in classes, nothing. Hernandez was found first, so we theorize the predators might have started out in North Austin and worked their way south. Saliva was found in the wounds from two different individuals. No record of DNA matching it in any of our databases."

"Have you seen if they have any classmates in common?"

"Yes, there are four but all of them have alibis. We are trying to get court orders to match their DNA to the saliva that was found."

"Can we get a list of their names, please?" Dean smiled affably.

The detective printed out a list on his computer and handed to them. "Tread carefully with them. Don't cause anything that could impede us getting our court order."

"No worries, detective. We will just do a background check to cross-check their previous locations with that of the slayings we are investigating. We probably can clear them in the other slayings quite easily." Dean thanked the detective and they left.

When they arrived back at the hotel room, Sam immediately started to research the students on his laptop. Castiel shrugged out of his trench coat and removed his jacket. He snapped Gabe's leash on him and took him for his nightly walk. Dean accompanied him. Dean asked quietly, "How are you holding up, Cas?"

Castiel smiled at him, "I'm fine. You know how I get when I get caged up in the car for days on end. Gabe and I will go for a run in the morning, and I'll be good to go again."

Dean pulled him close to kiss him, right as headlights cut through the parking lot. Dean felt like they were in a spotlight for a moment and squinted his eyes. Gabe let out a low growl. Castiel said in a low voice, "Something's not right, Dean." The car lights remained focused on them.

Dean pulled out his gun from under his coat and Castiel pulled out his angel blade. Doors opened in the car and two young women got out. Gabe growled harder. Castiel ordered him to sit and stay and dropped the leash. 

Dean wished he had a machete. The gun wouldn't be much help in the fight if these were vampires. 

The woman who had come out of the driver's door was about 20. She had dark brown hair and wore black leather pants and a tight tank top. She had what looked like an electric cattle prod in her right hand. The woman from the passenger's side was a short, mousy woman in jeans and a Firefly t-shirt. She had a gun in her hand. "We heard you might join the party here, Winchesters."

Castiel looked at the cattle prod distrustfully. He was ready for most attacks, but he questioned what that could do. Gabe let out a series of sharp barks, but stayed where Castiel had told him to.

The driver rushed towards Castiel, but he dove towards the other woman stabbing her in the chest with the angel blade. Dean tackled the driver. A jolt of electricity went through his body and he was twitching on the ground. Gabe rushed the woman, grabbing her arm in his mouth. Castiel smote the woman he was stabbing and then turned towards the driver. She flipped her arm and Gabe went flying into the side of the dumpster with a yelp. 

Suddenly, a tall, brunette woman came running from a different car and slammed into the driver, shoulder first. The cattle prod went flying into the air. Castiel reached his hand out and touched the driver's forehead, light shown out of her eyes as he smote her. She crumpled to the ground. Castiel looked at the tall women mistrustfully. "Who are you and why did you help me?"

"I'm Astrid, and I don't like bitches that hurt dogs." 

Castiel's eyes flicked to Gabe, who was lying still next to the dumpster. He knelt down next to Dean, trying to determine his state first. At first glance, he seemed to be having the same effects as if he had been Tasered. Astrid was heading towards Gabe. Castiel called after her, "Be careful. He might bite you."

Astrid knelt near Gabe. He looked at her mistrustfully and gave a warning growl. She could tell his leg was broken. "You need to get your dog to a vet. And your um….boyfriend to a doctor."

Castiel looked her. "That won't be necessary."

She heard footsteps behind her. She turned to see a tall, good-looking man looking down at her. Castiel called out, "Her name is Astrid. She helped me, Sam."

Sam nodded and knelt near Gabe. He ran his hands over the dog's body. "His left, front leg is broken, Cas. He's not breathing quite right. How's Dean?"

"Come get him, Sam. We need to get out of here. I think he's just unconscious. I'll help Gabe." 

"Who are you guys? What did you do to those women?" Astrid asked, feeling slightly panicked.

Castiel blinked at her. "They attacked us. I ended them. They were vampires. They killed innocent people. Vampires are real."

She stared as Castiel put his hand on the side of the dog. A low glow lit his hand as he ran it up and down the dog. Gabe stood up suddenly, shook himself, and walked towards Dean as if nothing had occurred.

Astrid stared at Castiel, the hair on the back of her neck was standing up. She knew he wasn't normal. "What are you?"

"I'm an Angel of the Lord. My apologies for what I must do next."

Astrid for the first time felt real fear since this began. Castiel simply held out two fingers to her forehead. The world went black for her.

"I put her to sleep, Sam. What are we going to do with her?"

"Get our stuff out of the hotel room, and put her in it. Can you wipe her mind?"

"She has suffered some sort of brain injury previously. Without taking the time to know the effect this might have on her, I'm hesitant to do that to her."

They could hear sirens in the distance. Castiel picked her up, took her into the hotel room and laid her carefully on the bed. He gathered up their belongings as quickly as he could, running out to the car where Sam was. Sam had placed Dean and Gabe in the back seat. Castiel climbed into the passenger seat, as Sam gunned the engine and the car roared out of the parking lot. Sam could see the lights of the police cars approaching the hotel. He kept the lights of the Impala off until he could merge into traffic two blocks later. The Impala disappeared into the crowd. 

Sam looked over at Castiel, "How's Dean?"

"He's unconscious but not significantly damaged. He'll probably wake up in an hour or so. Gabe should be fine."

"I checked the IDs on the vampires who attacked you. They were two of the four students that the officer indicated."

Castiel gave a grim smile, "The last two are probably vampires too. They most likely alibied each other."

"We should take care of them."

Castiel nodded. He pulled opened Sam's laptop and looked up their address. They lived in two different apartments. Leaving Gabe to guard Dean, Sam and Castiel broke into the first apartment. When the vampire attacked, Sam cut off her head with a machete.

At the second apartment, Castiel ended up smiting the vampire.

Within an hour, they were on the road again, heading back to the bunker. Dean slowly stirred to consciousness in the back seat. Gabe enthusiastically licked his face.

"Oh, what's the name of the truck that hit me," Dean moaned.

"I think they thought they could take me out with a jolt of electricity, Dean. I wasn't sure if they could or not. My apologies for making you face that one, while I took care of the other one."

"No, it's good, Cas. I'm always happy to be the cannon fodder for the team. Status of the vampires?"

"All four dead, but there's a complication." Sam said quietly.

Dean felt a moment of dread. He hated the word complication. "Yeah, what's that?"

Castiel said apologetically, "A witness. Hopefully, she'll think it's a bad dream. I felt it was imprudent to mind wipe her because she suffered a brain injury probably four or five years ago. I was afraid it might have complications if I tried to do so. I didn't wish to harm her. She helped, Dean. Without her aid, I'm not sure I could have taken the vampire down. I hate to ask one of you to do this, but when we get back to the bunker, one of you are going to have to use the weapon on me. If the vampires have figured out a way to take me down, we need to know the ramifications."

Dean frowned. There was that word complication again. He grimaced; there was no way he was going to use that weapon on Castiel.

Sam said quietly, "I'll do it. Cas is right; we need to figure out what it will do to him. But, hey, it didn't kill you! Get some sleep, Dean. We've got a long drive ahead."

Dean relaxed back into the seat. Gabe cuddled against him. He let himself go back to sleep.


	4. Getting to Know You

Astrid woke up, startled, realizing she was in a strange hotel room. She didn't feel injured in any way, apart from a general fuzziness of waking up after a deep sleep.

She stood up. There were no belongings in the room, but the room wasn't completely straightened up either. The closet door was open, a chair was pulled out. She walked into the bathroom and saw a crumpled towel on the floor along with a dog dish.

Suddenly, the events of the night before came flooding back to her. She had caught the trio's trail while staking out the police department. When she arrived in Austin, she had called the detective in charge of the case, asking about the case. She had expressed interest in writing an article about it, and he answered most of her questions without giving out too many details about the injuries themselves. She had asked him if they had brought any external experts yet. When he said no, she decided to take the chance on watching the entrance of the police station. When she saw the Impala roar into the parking lot, she knew she had guessed correctly.

She followed the trio back to the hotel and staked out the parking lot. When she saw the trench coat man (sans trench coat) and the shorter of his companions come out to walk their dog, she realized that the two were romantic partners. She found that interesting. Three vigilantes, two of which, at least, were in a relationship. 

She wasn't prepared when she saw the girls attack them. She watched in shock as the brunette woman used an electric cattle prod on one of them, leaving him twitching on the ground. She didn't quite see what happened to the other woman, but there was a flash of light. When she saw the woman throw the dog, she acted on adrenaline. She could never stand seeing animals hurt. When she helped disarm the woman, she didn't know that trench coat man would kill her like that. She was sort of an accessory to a crime, but then again, it seemed pretty much like self-defense. She didn't know what type of weapon trench coat man has used, he just seemed to touch her and the woman lit up like a candle and then faded quickly.

She knew the dog's leg had been broken, but trench coat man just touched him and the dog was fine. None of it made sense. She at least knew the name of two of the men -- Sam and Dean. They had called the dog Gabe. However, trench coat man was still an enigma. He had called himself an Angel of the Lord, but she didn't see any religious symbols or other indicators of any known religion. She searched the hotel room for any other signs or anything that they left behind. The dog bowl and the single dirty towel seemed to be the only thing.

She slipped out of the hotel room. Police cars were still gathered around the woman's car, trying to determine exactly what happened. She stayed on the sidewalk and tried to walk nonchalantly to her car. She had found a long time ago that if you just pretended to belong somewhere, no one noticed you. After getting in her car, she went back to her real hotel room.

She figured there had to be fingerprints on the dog bowl. There was no reason for anyone to be careful with that item. She examined the dog bowl under a bright light until she though she saw what might be a thumb print. She used a piece of tape to lift that print. She dusted it to make it more visible and scanned it into her laptop. She then hacked into the police database system again to run the prints.

She leaned back in the chair. The men had done nothing to harm her. Trench coat guy had told the tall guy, Sam, that she had been helping. Presumably, so that Sam would know she was not one of the assailants. Trench coat guy also had warned her that Gabe might bite her. He had even apologized to her before knocking her out; however, he had knocked her out. He also hadn't seemed to take any joy in killing the women that attacked him. There was no anger, just determination and then concern for both his fallen companion and his dog.

The shorter of his two companions (Dean) hadn't seemed to attack the woman with the intent to harm her, only to slow her down. He had a gun and he hadn't used it. Instead, he had gone in hand-to-hand combat with her. Perhaps, to give trench coat guy a chance to take care of the other one.

The laptop made a noise, indicating that a match had been found. She reached over and pulled the laptop over to her. Her jaw dropped as she saw the crime he was associated with. Trench coat guy's finger prints had been found at the slaying of the entire staff of a congresswoman who was running for office many years previously. She brought up pictures of the attacker and they looked like trench coat guy, but a bit different. His face had what look like boils and blisters on it. The police had never found any leads in that case. 

She tried to reconcile the man who had been mostly kind to her the previous night to the picture caught on the security camera of the same man with a very malicious grin. It made no sense to her. She ran a background check on the congresswoman. She frowned after reading the summary of results. Apparently, after the congresswoman's death, several reports had come out about corruption, including her skimming off funds meant for homeless shelters, women shelters, and children's programs. That could be the target of a religious zealot vigilante, she supposed. However, that man in the security footage acted nothing like the man she encountered the previous night. He had called the women he killed vampires, however.

She picked up her pen and started chewing on the end of it. She then twirled her hair around it. It just didn't add up.

She opened up her web browser and searched for Sam, Dean, and 1967 Impala together. She looked at her computer stunned. One Sam and Dean Winchester a few months after the congresswoman had been killed were the subject of a nationwide manhunt after they went on a crime spree. They were killed in Arkeny, Iowa, on October 28, 2011. She gave a grim laugh, "They obviously got better."

She started digging through news archives in the months prior to the event at the congresswoman's office. There were a strange series of occurrences. Some people healed, some people killed, reports of someone in a trench coat calling himself God. And then, it all stopped. The Winchesters' crime spree was the last big moment before things got quiet again.

The puzzle pieces just didn't line up. The three men were now killing people who killed other people. Previously, they had killed innocent people. And yet, last night, trench coat guy had gone out of his way not to harm her. Perhaps, it was just gratitude for her aid. You helped save me, so I'll save you this one-time mentality. 

She clicked on the television when it was time for the morning news. She stared with her mouth open as the reporter said that four people had been killed over night, two in a hotel parking lot and two in different apartments. Also, evidence indicated that at least two of the dead were involved in the recent slayings of college girls.

Who were these guys? They were a part superhero, part vigilante, part violent criminals, and just plain confusing. She turned off the tv and snapped the laptop shut. She was going to get a few hours of sleep before she decided her next move.

\-------

Sam and Castiel drove straight through from Austin to the bunker, only stopping enough to refuel the car, grab food, and walk Gabe when needed. Dean slept most of the way. Castiel was very tense and wanted to return to the bunker quickly. He only spoke to Sam when Sam asked him a question. 

Castiel didn't relax until the garage door closed behind them and the Impala was safely parked.

Castiel took Gabe outside and walked him to the open field. He unsnapped Gabe's lead and Gabe took off running around in the wildflowers. Dean came up behind, walking stiffly. He put his arms around Castiel from the back. "You, okay?"

"I will be." Castiel turned, kissing Dean. "Those women knew we were coming, and I don't think the Astrid woman was an accident either. Something is hunting us, Dean. I can feel it. Can't we just let the other hunters take care of whatever this vampire thing is?"

Dean's eyes narrowed, "Someone like Claire? What would have happened to Claire if she got jumped by four vamps? Or Mom? Jody? This is one of those times, we have to fix this, Cas."

Castiel growled, "Why, we didn't cause this. This isn't on us. The British Men of Letters caused all the chaos among the vampire. We're just stuck in the aftermath. Why for once can't this be someone else's problems? I have tried to solve the world's problems, repeatedly. All it brings me is despair, heartache, guilt, and pain. How many times do we have to sacrifice ourselves until we are done? The only reason I'm still going out there, is because I know you and Sam still go if I don't. I can't let you sacrifice yourself, but I don't want to do this anymore, Dean. I'm tired of being responsible. I'm just fucking tired." Castiel closed his eyes. "I watched you get injured yet again. I saw Gabe get injured. I just don't want to…" Castiel's voice trailed off. 

Dean pulled him close and held him. "We'll figure it out, babe. We will. Everything will be fine."

Castiel pulled away. "Yeah, everything will be fine until it isn't." He whistled for Gabe, who came running back. Gabe and Castiel headed back to the bunker. Dean stood in the open field, with his hands balled into fists, wondering what he was going to do.

\---------

When Dean returned to the bunker, he found Sam in front of his laptop on the map table.

"So, get this, Dean. Astrid from last night, I think she's a reporter named Astrid LeBeau. She's the one who just cracked that big human trafficking ring in Southern California. I thought she looked familiar. She did an interview on 20/20 about her investigation that I saw a few weeks back. She's a top-notch investigator. She is a former Marine and was a war correspondent."

Dean sighed, "Well, that's just peachy. Cas did mojo stuff in front of a reporter. She'll be tenacious like a dog with a bone."

Sam looked at Dean for a minute. "Maybe, we should just lay low for a while. I think Cas could use a break."

"So, what? We hang out in the bunker and let people die because we are afraid of the reporter? Sit around a fire in a circle and sing kumbaya."

"Dean, we can send Garth or someone on the next group. He can gather some hunters together, not go in alone."

Dean growled, "They would have killed Garth and any of the other hunters we know, except maybe for Mom and Claire. They don't have an angel in their pocket."

The noise of a shattering coffee cup came from behind him. Dean turned to face Castiel. Castiel glared at Dean. "Is that what I am to you, Dean? The angel in your pocket so you can take on bigger things than the other hunters? I'm not a pet or a lap dog. I thought I was your husband." Castiel stormed up the stairs and left the bunker with door banging loudly.

Sam just looked at Dean wordlessly for a minute. He closed the laptop with a loud thump. "Pick up the mess Cas left and go fuck yourself, Dean." Sam walked up the stairs, following Castiel.

Gabe gave a short bark and looked at him. 

Dean sighed, "You too?"

Gabe whined, looking up at the bunker door.

"Yeah, I screwed up, again, kiddo. They just don't understand. Sam killed the Alpha; this is on us. I just don't to make Sam feel guilty. No matter what Cas said, we did this."

Gabe barked at Dean. 

"Guess you don't understand, either, kiddo."

Dean turned to pick up the mess left by the coffee cup.

\-------

Sam climbed to the top of the hill Castiel went when he wanted to meditate. 

"Hello, Sam," came a tired voice.

"Dean didn't mean it the way it came out."

"Are you trying to clean up Dean's messes again?" Castiel looked over his shoulder at Sam.

"No, I just wanted to tell you I love you and you are part of our family. You're not a hammer or a tool. You're my brother."

Castiel turned to smile at Sam. "I know. Dean just gets in his head that he has to save people and fix things. It's one of the things that drew me to him. It's one of the reasons I literally fell for him. I'm just tired of him being totally willing to sacrifice himself. My sole goal is to keep the two of you alive. It's selfish. I don't want to be alone and I don't know if I'll be able to follow you. Although, I'll give my everything to try."

Sam gave Castiel a one-armed hug. "As we both know, Dean is complicated."

"It's a lesson well-learned after fifteen years with him."

Sam laughed, "Try 41."

"I can only hope that we'll make it to our 41st anniversary before Dean gets himself killed."

"We got a problem, Cas. That woman, Astrid, is a reporter. A damned good one. She's going to be following the same trail as us. She's going to find the same patterns. I figure that meeting in Austin wasn't a crazy random happenstance. I think we got on her radar. She was there before the women that attacked you. I think she was following us, not them."

Castiel's shoulders slumped. "Next time, I'll wipe her mind, Sam. I just didn't want to hurt her. Can you research the nature of her brain injury? Maybe, then I can make a determination about whether it might have ill effects."

"Sure, Cas. I'll find out everything I can on her."

Castiel's eyes met Sam's in an intense stare. "We could just consider telling her the truth."

"What that monsters are real?"

"She saw me heal Gabe. She saw me smite a vampire. She must have questions for which she needs answers. Perhaps, we can reason with her."

Sam looked at Castiel, thoughtfully. "But what if she exposes us?"

"We lock down the bunker and never leave? Except you all would need food and Gabe. I could stay in the bunker indefinitely and be fine, but without the two of you, I would not be fine."

Sam gave a short laugh. "I'll stock up on freeze dried food so we can last in there for months."

Castiel smiled, "That's a plan. We better do the thing with the weapon to test its effect on me, Sam, while Dean is still being sulking because I told him off."

"Are you sure, Cas?"

Castiel nodded. 

Sam slipped into the bunker quietly. Music was blaring from Dean's room. Sam expected there were probably five or six beer bottles with him by now. The only time Dean drank heavily anymore was when he and Castiel had a fight. It didn't happen often, but when it did, Dean listened to loud music and drank himself silly until Castiel approached him to try to find some sort of middle ground. Sam got the cattle prod-like device from the back of the Impala and went back outside to Castiel.

Castiel looked at him grimly. "Attack me, Sam, like you would if you were actually going to use that weapon on me. Don't hold back. I'm sorry in advance if I hurt you. I'll heal you when I'm done."

Sam stood back about ten feet from Castiel. He stood there quietly a moment, and then rushed Castiel with the prod in one hand and a knife in the other. Castiel dodged the first attack, kicking Sam in the back of the knee, causing his knee to buckle. Sam rolled into Castiel with the prod extended. It caught Castiel on the back of his calf. The energy arced and Castiel fell on the ground, twitching. Sam turned off the device. "Cas, you ok?"

"Hmm-mmh. I will be. It doesn't knock me out like it did Dean but it causes the inherent electrical system in my vessel to lose control. In no way should that be fatal, but it could incapacitate me long enough for them to do something else to me, or to you or Dean." 

Sam stood up and offered his hand to Castiel. He pulled Castiel to his feet, but Castiel was walking slowly. He was still suffering from some of the side effects. "The vamps are getting smarter, Cas."

"Yes, and they are starting to develop ways to hunt us back. There are many more of them than us, I fear. It only takes them one time of one of them being lucky."

Sam frowned and nodded. "Dean's brute force way is going to get us killed."

"He needs to stop thinking about this as a fight, and start thinking of this as a war. We must figure out who is organizing and cut it off at the head of the snake. I was a soldier much longer than anything else, Sam. I was very good at what I did. Unfortunately, Dean forgets that and doesn't listen to me."

"Dean's a dick, sometimes."

Castiel raised an eyebrow, "Sometimes?"

"Most the time."

Castiel shook his head, "But we love him anyway."


	5. What the Hell?

Astrid sighed as she looked over her notes again. She'd been staring at her laptop for about eight straight hours but felt no closer to figuring it out who trench coat guy was. 

She tapped the desk with her pen. She had to go out for food soon, all she had eaten that day was a granola bar. However, she just wasn't ready to give up for the day yet. 

If she couldn't find trench coat guy by looking for him; maybe, she could find some connection in the past with the Winchesters. Somewhere they had to intersect. If the Winchesters were still alive, maybe an old acquaintance would be able to fill in the blanks. She knew that the two men had no close family. Their father, John, was an only child who died in a car accident back in 2006. Their mother, Mary, burned to death in a house fire in 1983. She was also an only child. Her parents were murdered in 1973. John's mother had died when he was a teenager and his father had disappeared when John was a small child. Tragedy seemed to follow the family, almost as if it was cursed. 

She had looked through the different wanted postings for the Winchesters. They had been wanted for murder, robberies, theft, and grave desecration. Why would two guys who hid in the shadows and lived in the fringes into their mid-20s suddenly start a crime spree that plastered them all over the television screens of America?

She tracked down their school records. The Winchesters changed schools as often as some people change socks. However, there was one thing that she noticed. Twice, it seemed the boys spent an extended period of time in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. One, Robert Singer, seemed to be responsible for them at that time. She searched for him but found that he had died again in 2011. What was there about that year?

Sioux Falls was the only place the boys had seemed to stick to more than once. Singer had had a salvage yard there. That again had burned down in 2011. 

She decided to place a call to the sheriff of Sioux Falls. She dialed the sheriff's office there. The sheriff was out, but she left a message asking her to call back. Astrid finally felt that she had uncovered everything there was to uncover for that day.

She went to a diner a few buildings down from her hotel. As she ate down her cheeseburger and drank a beer, she thought again about what trench coat guy had said about the women he had killed--vampires. Was he talking figuratively because they killed people through next injuries or did he literally believe that they were vampires? She laughed at herself after she seriously considered for a moment to research vampires.

She stood up, stretching her long legs. It was 3:30 now. She might be able to make it to the morgue before closing time.  
\------

She showed her press credentials to the front desk at the morgue. Luckily, he was a fan and had seen her on 20/20 and in her old days as a war correspondent. When she asked to see the coroner in charge of the case, he introduced her to Dr. Graham. The woman looked prim and proper in her white jacket and her graying hair in a bun. She looked at Astrid suspiciously.

Astrid gave her best charming smile, "Hi, Dr. Graham. I hate to bother you, but I am researching a series of murders and I'm just trying to see if these might be related. In the other cases, people were killed by injuries in the neck. Could these be related?"

Dr. Graham gave her a no-nonsense look, "If they were, the case would definitely be shut. I can without a doubt say that the ones that did that to the girls are dead."

"There was a similar case in Flagstaff where they were certain that the perpetrators were dead. So, I'm looking at this to see if these guys might be a cult-related kind of thing. I promise to keep your name strictly off the record. Could you tell me if there's anything odd about the body? Or the perps' mouths?"

Dr. Graham gave a strange look, "Like what, vampire teeth?"

Astrid felt incredibly silly for a moment but brushed it aside. "No, sometimes there are these vampire-wannabe cults who use like dental appliances to act more like vampires. My angle is there a cult of these running around thinking they are Dracula or Edward or something."

Dr. Graham looked at Astrid, "There was a couple of things odd. I can't give out too many details because it is an active investigation, but we can't figure out exactly how the two women from the hotel died. It's like their insides were liquefied. But there were also some extra teeth in one of them. I'm thinking of doing head x-rays of the others. But that is strictly off the record. I'm only sharing this because I know you have done some stellar work in the past. If there is some connection between these victims and those others, you’ll find it. You're not the only one looking into to it though, there were three men here from the FBI."

"What were their names?"

"Agents Frey, Henley, and Walsh. I thought it was an odd coincidence since those are names of members of the band the Eagles."

Astrid narrowed her eyes as she thought of it. Many times criminals had tells, patterns that they used repeatedly. She would check that angle out.

"I thank you for your time, Dr. Graham. If you would like to say something on the record after I crack the story, please contact me. Also, if you have any other information that you find later, I would love to hear it." Astrid handed her a business card.

Astrid frowned as she headed for her car. Trench coat guy without any visible weapon had liquified the insides of those women, but then he healed the dog. She muttered to herself, "I think I've entered the twilight zone." She got in her car and returned to the hotel.

\-------

It was late, but Sam was staring at an image of Astrid on his laptop. He had watched several news stories from when she was a war correspondent. He saw the depth of empathy she had for the innocent people caught in conflicts. She never coldly read facts and figures; she deeply felt everything that she talked about. He also had re-watched her appearance on 20/20 about the human trafficking ring. Again, he could feel the pain in her voice as she talked about what she had seen and the impact it had on people. She wasn't just some hack reporter who accidentally got a lead on them. There was more to her.

He found the reason for her brain injury that Castiel detected. She had stopped reporting from war zones after a vehicle she was riding hit an IED in Afghanistan. She had been blown clear of the truck, but she struck her head on a rock when she landed. The other six people in the truck were killed, including her fiancé at the time. She had been in a four-year relationship with the photographer that traveled with her. They had made magic together with his pictures and her reporting. The synergy between the articles and the photography was amazing. The two of them must have been incredibly in sync.

According to her biography, after a year of convalescing from her injury, she had jumped into investigative reporting. She freelanced and then worked with different networks or outlets to broadcast the story after she finished her research. She obviously liked to maintain control. The more Sam read about her, the more he admired her.

Castiel wandered in and looked at Sam. "You should be asleep. It's 3 am. Is something troubling you?"

"No, Cas, I'm just trying to learn more about this reporter. I'm trying to figure out what makes her tick."

Castiel tilted his head and blinked at Sam. "Why would she tick?"

Sam shook his head, even after all these years some idioms still confused Castiel. "I mean I want to know what motivates her to do what she does."

"I didn't sense she was a bad person, Sam. Contrarily, she comforted Gabe until I had time to heal him. It's quite a quandary we have."

"There's just something special about her, Cas." Sam looked wistful.

Castiel sat at the table next to Sam. "Do you want to talk about something?"

"I don't know, Cas. I just sometimes wonder what I'm doing. I've been repeating the same cycle for so long. Find monsters, kill monsters, rinse, repeat, over and over. You and Dean at least have something more."

"That something can be quite painful sometimes. Your brother is not always the easiest of men."

Sam gave him a small smile. "You wouldn't change a minute of it all, no matter how bitchy Dean can be. You know it."

"Well, there is that. He continually surprises me with both his compassion and his ability to be a complete dick, sometimes at the same time. He is Dean. I should have been warned after he both shot and stabbed me in the first three minutes of our first meeting. Are you lonely, Sam?"

"I guess. After Eileen, I just really didn't want to open myself up to all that again. Between Jess and Eileen and Madison and Sarah, I seem to have a jinx if someone cares about me or I care about them. We won't even talk about Ruby." Sam yawned and stretched.

"I understand, Sam. No matter how hard I tried for many years, I continually did the wrong thing trying to help Dean. I was not good luck. I kept making things worse. But you did nothing to cause what happened to any of those women. Well, other than Ruby, because you held her while Dean stabbed her. That, um, probably doesn't matter right now." Castiel remembered that Sam had said not to talk about her.

Sam looked at Castiel and laughed. "You give the best pep talks ever, dude."

Castiel blinked. "Is that sarcasm? Dean has made me confused sometimes."

"No, Cas, I mean it. No matter how down I am, you somehow make me smile. Mostly not on purpose, but I still appreciate it."

Castiel grinned. "Glad that me and my socially awkward, too literal dumbass self can be of help, Sam. I love you. Sometimes, you are the only thing standing between me and the smiting of your brother."

Sam got up and stretched. "Love ya too, Cas. You know I have your back. Dean was a dick, but he'll come around. He always does." Sam closed his laptop and headed to his room.

\----

The next morning, while Astrid was reviewing the news feed, her phone rang. "Hello, this is Astrid LeBeau."

"Hello, this is Jody Mills. I'm the sheriff of Sioux Falls. You called yesterday about needing some information about a story? I have to warn you, I'm not really partial to journalists. I'm willing to help up to a point, but I'll stop this call if I think you are spinning my words in any way."

Astrid pulled out a notepad and a pen. "Hi, Sheriff Mills. I just wanted to ask some questions about a Robert Singer that lived there about a decade or so ago."

Astrid detected a wariness in Jody's voice as she answered, "Yeah, I knew him. What do you want to know?"

"Did he have some boys that lived with him sometimes, Dean and Sam?"

There was a long silence on the phone, then Jody said, "He did act as a surrogate dad to some boys a long time ago. Their own dad wasn't much of a father, so Singer took them in sometimes. Good kids, never got in trouble in Sioux Falls as near as I can remember. It's been years though."

"Did you ever see Singer with a guy who often wears trench coats. Decently tall guy, fairly handsome, just a shade under six feet maybe, blue eyes, kind of messy hair."

Astrid listened carefully to the tone of Jody's voice. "I can't recall Singer knowing anyone like that, but I could go months without talking to him. He had a few run-ins with the law, mostly drunk and disorderly. Overall, Singer was a good guy and, in his later years, was a friend." Jody's voice had definitely become very chilled.

Astrid decided to take one last gamble. She knew the sheriff wouldn't speak to her again after this call. "Do you know those two boys, Sam and Dean Winchester, became wanted fugitives and were killed in Arkeny, Iowa, about 11 years ago, shortly before Singer died of his head wound. I don't think they're dead, I know they aren't dead because I saw them two days ago alive as can be. I think they killed Singer, and the friend of theirs in a trench coat helped them."

Jody growled, "Sam and Dean wouldn't hurt Bobby. Those two men are the best…" She stopped, realizing her mistake. The way she stated that made it sound like she knew they were alive.

Astrid in a pleasant voice said, "Have a nice day, sheriff. You've been a big help." She hung up the phone.

She started her laptop and searched for information on Jody Mills. Jody Mills' son died in 2008, and her husband in 2010. "More tragedies. What is with these people?" Astrid muttered to herself. When she checked for Jody on Facebook, she saw pictures of Jody with two girls, one named Alex Jones and the other Claire Novak. Astrid couldn't find anything on Alex Jones before 2014. However, skimming the police database again, she found police records involving Claire Novak. She focused her attention on her. Her father, James, had disappeared in 2008 and her mother, Amelia, had died a few years after that. She brought up the picture of Claire's missing father and knew it was trench coat guy. She grinned, "Got you, you son of a bitch." Trench coat guy was one James Novak.

She added the terms Dean, Sam, Winchester, Impala, and Novak into her search engine to see if she could find anything else that could link them together. A fan site for a series of books called Supernatural popped up. Novak seemed to appear in a book called, "The Rapture." She skimmed the book plot summary. "Castiel visits Dean in a dream and tells him he has important news. Dean and Sam set out on a search for Castiel, only to find his human vessel, Jimmy Novak, who yearns for a normal life and to return to his family." 

She wasn't expecting that. She searched the fan site for the name Castiel. "Castiel, also called Cas, is a powerful angel of the Lord who was responsible for saving Dean Winchester from Hell."

"Holy fucking hell." Novak had told her he was an angel. She skimmed the website for plot summaries of the books. She brought up Sam and Dean's police records and started to compare events. Astrid leaned back in her chair and stared at the laptop. "It really is the twilight zone."

She searched for an online biography for the author of the books, Carver Edlund. Mostly, he sought to stay out of the limelight. However, in 2009, he had a fan convention at an obscure hotel in which someone was murdered. Nothing had been heard from Carver Edlund after that date. She looked at his picture but didn't recognize from anyone she had seen so far. She looked for more information on the fan convention and discovered that Becky Rosen had helped organize the convention. That would be her next target. 

\---------

Castiel never joined Dean in their room the previous evening. They continued to avoid each other most of the day. Castiel went for a long walk with Gabe. Dean decided every car in the garage needed to be washed. Dean was just wiping the last of the water off Baby when his phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID and saw it was Jody.

"Hey, Jody, what's happening?"

Jody's voice seemed nervous, "Dean, I think I screwed up. A reporter called."

"Let me guess, her name is Astrid." Dean's voice sounded resigned.

"Yeah. She knows who you two are and that you're alive. She was fishing for information about Cas too. I didn't give her anything to work with on that."

"How the hell did she figure us out so fast? It's only been two days."

"I've no idea, Dean. I don't know if she found me by accident or knew me and Bobby were friends. She's smart though."

Dean sighed and said, "It will be ok, Jody. We'll figure something out. We always do. Don't beat yourself up over it. We should have warned you there was a reporter on our tail."

After Dean hung up with Jody, he walked back into the main bunker. He dripped water on the floor and his shoes were making a squishing sound as he found Sam leaning over his laptop, focused on his screen.

"Sam. Jody just called. That Astrid chick knows who we are. She's trying to figure out who Cas is."

Sam looked at Dean worriedly. "She's good. Like really good. I've been reading up on her and the things she uncovered. Dean, I think we need to lay low. I really do."

Dean gave a pained look. "I'll see if some of the other hunters can handle the next nest that pops up. But, Sammy, if it goes south, it will be on us because we are protecting our own hides."

"Maybe, you aren't giving the other hunters enough credit."

Dean shrugged, "I hope so. I hope they prove me wrong."

"You make up with Cas yet?"

Dean sat down in the chair at the table. Sam grimaced as he saw the water trickling down the wood of the chair from Dean's saturated clothes, but kept his mouth shut. 

"Sam, honestly, I don't even know if Cas wants to be with me anymore. Could he be tired of me? He doesn't want to hunt. He just wants to sit around and veg out or something."

Sam gave a deep sigh. "He's just scared of losing us, Dean. We're getting older and slower. He's just scared. You've given him plenty over the years to be scared of. Go talk to him."

Dean sighed and headed out of the bunker. He found Castiel in the open field throwing a ball for Gabe. Gabe brought the ball back to Castiel, dancing excitedly before dropping the ball in Castiel's hand. Castiel watched Dean's approach. "Hello, Dean."

"I'm a dumbass, Cas."

"Yes, you are. But, I love you, assbutt." Castiel threw the ball for Gabe again, his gaze focused on the dog.

"You know I didn't mean the way it sounded. I don't take you for granted. I'm damn happy you've stayed with me all these years. We're partners, Cas."

"No, I'm the angel in your pocket."

"Cas…"

Castiel turned to face Dean, "If I had an equal say, you would compromise. You do not compromise. Therefore, you consider me the angel in your pocket."

"Cas…"

"I’m not done talking, Dean. I made a very reasonable request for us to let someone else handle these cases. The vampires are laying traps for us. They are testing us. They won't expect the actions of other hunters. This woman…" Castiel was starting to get closer to Dean, practically spitting out the words in Dean's face.

"Cas, I told Sam to ask one of the other hunters to handle the next incident."

Castiel deflated instantly, "Oh. I’m the dumbass."

Dean gave him a small smile. "I prefer the term stubborn. Less dumb, less ass." Dean leaned forward and closed the distance between them. He drew Castiel close for a long kiss.

When Dean pulled back, he gave a sad frown. "This won't be the last time we will butt heads about this. There are things that we are the best ones to handle. We don't get to sit on our asses in some ivory tower."

"I know, Dean. The vampires know about me. They are developing ways to incapacitate me. Sam tried their electric weapon on me. It does render me useless for a few minutes."

"He tried on you when I wasn't there?" Dean looked stormy.

Castiel gave him a small smile, "It was better this way. You didn't have to fret about it in advance."

"Well, Astrid knows who me and Sam are. And, she knows Jody has a connection to us."

Castiel squinted and tilted his head. "At some point, we will have to face her. We can't stay off her radar forever. I want to try to reason with her."

"Reporters are like sharks, Cas. The first time they see blood, they attack."

"She saved us. She showed compassion to Gabe. She could have stayed wherever she was watching from and not get involved, but she didn't. She disarmed the vampire so that I could smite her. I believe that it stands to reason that she will be willing to listen to us to understand us. It's not just the story, but it's the truth that matters."

Dean responded, "We'll just agree to disagree. I don't want to fight with you again." He reached out and grabbed Castiel's hand, intertwining their fingers. Castiel whistled for Gabe and the two went back to the bunker.


	6. Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Astrid decided to fly to Delaware to talk to Becky Rosen in person. After digging a little bit more into Becky's life, she found out that Becky owned a website about the Supernatural books. When she arrived in Delaware, she called Becky to arrange a time to meet her. They agreed to meet at a coffee shop.

Astrid survey the coffee house, as she entered. A perky middle-aged blonde woman waved to her. Astrid approached her. "Hello, you must be Becky Rosen. I'm Astrid LeBeau. I'm writing an article about book series that should have had more success than they had. I wanted to talk to you about Supernatural."

Becky bounced in her seat, excitedly. "I can tell you all about those books. And, fan fiction. And, videos."

Astrid smiled at her. "Why are you so passionate about the series?"

"Well, they are about brothers, sexy brothers, who travel around the country, saving people and hunting things. What's not to love? I mean, they are so brave. Especially, Sam, he's so heroic and self-sacrificing and his hair is amazing." Becky let out a long sigh.

"Did you ever consider that the characters in the book might be real?"

"You know about that? Oh my god, I was keeping it quiet, because I didn't want people to think I was totally crazy. I mean you do believe it too? Don't you?"

"I do! What do you know about the real Sam and Dean? Are they like the way they are in the books?"

"Oh, Sam is even hotter in real. We were totally in love, " Becky exclaimed. "We got married for a little while, but he realized he couldn't have both me and be a hunter. And, well, so many people needed saving. I had to give up Sam to save the world. It was a sacrifice that had to be made."

"And what about Dean?" 

Becky sighed, "Dean loves his brother and really resented sharing him. He came around though. He brought us a waffle iron for our wedding present. He helped save the world too, but it was mostly Sam."

"And what about Castiel?"

"I never actually met Castiel. I mean I know all about him. He's an angel. He helped Dean and Sam stop the apocalypse. Dean has some sort of relationship with him. There's a lot of Destiel fanfic out there. I'm not a fan personally."

"Destiel?"

"Fanfiction that puts Castiel and Dean together. There's subtext in the books. You know, long stares, personal space issues, emotionally wrought scenes, all that kind of stuff. I mostly ignore it because I like Sam and Dean together."

Astrid looked quizzically, "Together?"

"Oh yeah, there's a huge following for Sam and Dean in a relationship."

"But, they are brothers?"

Becky glared, "Don't judge."

Astrid sat back in her chair a bit, "I wouldn't dream of it. There's room for everyone." She started tapping her pen on the tablet. "What can you tell me about Carver Edlund?"

"He disappeared shortly after the Supernatural convention. I assume it is because I broke his heart. We were in a relationship for a while, but I decided that Sam was my one, true love. His real name is Chuck Shurley."

"So, you haven't seen Edlund…I mean Chuck since 2009?"

"Yes, he hasn't published anything since then. I would know if he published anything. I'm his number one fan."

"And you haven't seen the Winchesters since 2011?"

She sighed, "No."

"But you saw them after October 2011?"

"Yes, Sam and I got married in December. Why is that important?" Becky looked suspicious.

"You were aware that they were in a nation-wide manhunt in October 2011 and were supposedly died in Iowa. Weren't you worried when they reappeared?"

"Oh, no. They've died before and came back. And, I knew it couldn't have been them. Sam said something about Leviathan. They were these monsters that could look like Sam and Dean. Me and Sam didn't talk about that much because we were mostly occupied during our honeymoon with more important things."

Astrid felt the sensation of falling into the twilight zone again. "They died and come back?"

"Oh, yeah, Sam got stabbed in the back once by one of the other demon children. Dean was murdered over a hundred times by the Trickster, as well eaten by a hellhound. Castiel went into hell and pulled Dean back out. I supposed Castiel helped a little bit to save the world. It was mostly Sam though. He heroically cast himself into the cage with Lucifer in Hell to save the world."

Astrid felt the start of a headache throbbing behind her eyes. Talking to Becky was about the same as reading the Supernatural books, only with enough perkiness to make you want to stab yourself.

Astrid plastered a fake smile on her face, "Is there anything that you know that isn't in the books?"

"Well, I helped kill a demon that was about to kill Sam. Is that helpful?" Becky looked hopeful.

"Thank you, Ms. Rosen, for your time. I'll call you if I need any more information." Astrid stood up, putting her tablet and pen into her knapsack.

"Thank you! I know so much more about the boys that I can tell you."

"No, you've already been more than helpful."

After Astrid left the coffee shop, she took a deep breath. She muttered to herself, "What the hell is happening? Are the books telling the story of the men or are the men so obsessed with the books that they are acting out characters? How did Castiel heal the dog? Or kill the 'vampires'? And I'm losing it too because I'm starting to talk to myself." Astrid gave a short laugh. 

\-------

Sam was searching for cases when he realized a new vampire strike was underway in Missoula, Montana. Two girls had been found with their throats ripped open. With a heavy heart, he went to look for Dean. He found him working on Baby, while Castiel was doing a crossword puzzle perched on a stool next to the car. Gabe was lying in front of Castiel, sprawled on the cool concrete floor of the garage.

Castiel looked at him when he entered. "Eight-letter word for happy?"

"Ecstatic, Cas."

Castiel gave him a large grin and added the word. Dean had his head under the hood, putting in new spark plugs. He turned as Sam walked up. "What's up, Sam?"

"Two vampire deaths in Missoula."

Dean tensed up for a moment. Castiel froze with his pencil in midair. He stared intently at both Sam and Dean. "I think Garth is up in that neck of the woods," Dean said roughly. "Call him and see if he can take. Tell him to take back up. He might be a werewolf, but there's going to be four vampires."

Sam nodded and patted Dean's back and started to turn around.

Dean grumbled, "If anything happens to Garth, I'll never forgive myself or you."

Castiel said, "Or me."

Dean sighed deeply. "Or you."

Castiel gathered up his cross-word puzzle book and pencil and left. Gabe got up and followed him with a sigh.

"Dean, this is the right thing to do. Just this once, we let someone else fight for us. Cas and I are trying to figure out ways to find out who is leading the vampires. When we do that, we'll go after them. Us doing all of the cases until then is only going prolonging finding who is really responsible."

"I didn't say it wasn't the right thing to do. I just said I'll never forgive us if it goes south for Garth. We don't have all that many friends in the world, and I really am not happy with sacrificing any of them to save our sorry asses."

"And if we get killed before we can take out the ringleader? Who's going to take him on then?"

Dean sighed and put his head back under the hood. "Right now, I'm going to finish changing out Baby's sparkplugs. Then, I'm going into town for a bit. I am going stir crazy."

"Just be careful, Dean."

"Always am, Sam."

Sam returned to the map table, where Castiel was searching for information on Dean's laptop. "I must figure out a way for us to track the vampires, Sam, so we know their point of origination. " Castiel slammed the lid of the laptop down. "But whenever I use Dean's laptop, I get this silly anime stuff that I don't understand and that seems anatomically impossible."

"It's ok, Cas, I'll help."

"We should compile a list of all the vampires and all of the victims. See if there's any shred of anything that links any of them at all. Which I would do if I ever could learn the simple basics of using fucking Google." Castiel gritted his teeth. "Those vampires have to be sired by someone. Someone started this."

Sam walked over to Castiel and hugged him. "Don't let Dean get into your head. He'll be fine. He's going out though."

"Of course, he is." Castiel looked defeated. 

"I'm going to call Garth. You hang in there, buddy."

Sam walked into the kitchen and dialed Garth. Garth answered on the second ring, "Hey there, Sam, what's up?"

"Garth, I need your help with something."

"I'm always happy to help, Sam. You know that!" Garth's bubbly personality came across clearly over the phone. Sam smiled.

"Vampire nest in Missoula. Can you handle it? Take backup, these guys aren't your typical vamps. I'll send you some information that we've found about them."

"Will do. Actually, Claire just stopped by to visit me and Bess. I'll take Claire and see if that friend of hers is available."

Sam felt his throat catch at the thought of Claire going on the mission. "Be careful, Garth. And make Claire be careful. And if you run into this reporter named Astrid, don't talk to her. I'll send you a picture. I think she's harmless, but she's out for a story about me and Dean. Also, if you can, can you explore their lair to see if you can figure out where they were prior to Missoula."

"You got it, Sam. If Dean is giving you any problems, just tell him to turn his frown upside down, or me and Mr. Fizzles will go there and do it for him."

Sam smiled softly, "You got it." As Sam hung up the phone, he debated telling Castiel that Claire was going on the hunt. In the end, Sam decided not to. Castiel already seemed to be on the brink of losing it. He didn't want to add another layer to his concern.

\------

Astrid sat in a Delaware hotel room. Her hair was still wet from the shower she had taken before changing into sweats and a tank top. She opened her laptop and reviewing the news feed. She saw the reports of the deaths in Missoula. "That's where the Winchesters will be headed next." She made her airplane reservations to Montana.

She closed her laptop and turned off the lights before getting into bed. She tried to sleep, but she couldn't. Her mind was in overdrive, mulling over everything she had learned about the Winchesters and Novak. It was all so fantastical. She tried to pull together any logical explanation for any of it but came up dry. 

After lying in bed fruitlessly for four hours, Astrid crawled out of bed and started packing. Her flight didn't leave for several hours, but she couldn't just sit there and dwell on this anymore. She packed her duffle bag and left the hotel. She went for a long walk around a nearby park. She sat on a park bench on watched kids play. If she were to accept that the supernatural was possibly real, it meant there was something simmering just under the surface in all neighborhoods. Ghosts, vampires, werewolves, angels, demons, all of it would be real. She just couldn't accept that yet. The Winchesters and Novak had to be some sort of strange vigilantes. Vigilantes that could heal the broken leg of a dog? And liquify people's brains with their bare hands? That had survived death and murdered dozens of people? 

A small girl walked to Astrid. "You look sad. I found this flower. Do you want it?" The girl was about six years old, with red hair and just the beginning of freckles. She was wearing yellow shorts and a bright pink shirt.

"That's very kind of you. Thank you." Astrid took the flower. The girl smiled at her shyly. Astrid looked up and saw a woman watching the kid intently. The woman's hair matched that of the girl. "You know, I have to get on a plane in a little while. Why don't you give the flower to your mom and thank her for bringing you to the park."

"Did your mom ever take you to the park?"

"Nah, my mom was always too busy for that. She had things to do. I had a nanny named Annie who took me to the park, taught me to braid my hair, and helped me learn aikido. She was wonderful."

"Where is she now?"

Astrid sighed, "She went to Heaven about six years ago. I miss her terribly."

"Angels will watch over her."

Astrid froze. If Novak was an angel, could he go to Heaven? New ramifications cascaded over her. She must have looked panicked because she felt a small hand on her knee. 

"It's okay, they'll take care of her. They take care of my dad too. He was a soldier."

Astrid smiled. "They will. I was a soldier too, once upon a time."

The red-headed woman started calling the name Kelly. The girl gave Astrid one last smile and took off running across the grass. Astrid looked on longingly for a moment. She headed to the airport to catch her flight.

\--------

When Dean returned from his night of drinking, Castiel was standing in front of a cork board on wheels, pushing different colored push pins into a map of the U.S. Strings connected different push pins. Dean could tell that Castiel was using the strings to make paths to linking the push pins together. Some pushpins were collected in a single spot. He recognized those as the cities in which they had taken out the nests. Castiel was dressed in orange shorts and was shirtless, often like he was for bed. Dean gulped as he stared at Castiel's back and rear as he added more pins and strings to the board.

Castiel looked at Dean briefly. "Hello, Dean."

"You've been busy, Cas."

Castiel looked like he was going to say something, but then turned back to the cork board. He looked at a paper on the table and started pushing in another set of push pins. Dean continued to stare at him.

"If you want to help Dean, take Gabe out. I forgot to take him for his nightly walk.

Dean sighed and whistled for Gabe. He could hear Gabe's claws scrambling across the tile floor as the big dog came running into the map room. Dean quietly went up the stairs with Gabe on his heels. As he opened up the door, Gabe took off into the darkness. Dean leaned against the wall and waited for him to return. He knew he kept messing things up with Castiel. It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. He also knew Castiel would never leave him. The more he drove the wedge between him and Castiel, the greater the wedge was between him and Sam too. Castiel and Sam seemed to have become best friends over the years. Mostly, he knew it was because he was a dick and tried to bully things to be his way the last few years. When both Sam and Castiel had asked to slow down on taking cases, he had guilted them into staying in the game. He knew there were several competent hunters out there, but he still made them hunt.

Gabe returned to the door. Dean opened the door and followed Gabe down the stairs. Castiel was sitting back in a chair, surveying the map. Dean could see the start of most of the trails seemed to circle two locations, Pontiac, Illinois and Lawrence, Kansas. Castiel looked up at Dean. "The son of a bitch is taunting us. He knows everything about us."

Dean walked over to Castiel and started rubbing his shoulders. He could feel the knots in Castiel's muscles. "So, you think the bastard is in one of those two places." He could feel the knots unwind slowly. Castiel started leaning against him more. Dean leaned down and kissed the back of his neck. 

Castiel moaned slightly, "I'm still mad at you."

"I know, I'm sorry." Dean turned the chair around and pulled Castiel out of the chair. "I love you."

"I know." Castiel kissed him passionately. Dean's hands started to roam up and Castiel's back. Castiel started to gently push him back towards the hallway. "Too many clothes." Castiel guided Dean backward to their bedroom and closed the door after them.

\-----

Astrid watched outside the Missoula police department, waiting for Novak or Winchesters to make an appearance. She noticed a really thin man, a blonde woman, and a tall dark-haired man dressed in suits conversing on the sidewalk in front of the police station, getting ready to go into the office. Something looked vaguely familiar about the woman. Astrid concentrated on her features, trying to remember where she had seen her before. Novak. She looked through the dossier she had made up so far from all the information she had found. She pulled out the picture of Jody and the two adopted daughters. The blonde was Claire Novak. She took a few pictures on her cellphone of the other two. The three went into the station. Astrid sat in the rental car, lying low in the seat and keeping an eye on the door. 

After a half hour, the three emerged and heading to a beat-up Ford Ranchero that had seen far better days. She started her car and followed them. The three stopped at a heavily wooded park. All three shrugged out of their dress jackets and put on denim jackets with multiple pockets before heading into the woods. Astrid got out of the car and followed them from a safe distance. When the trio stopped, she crouched behind some rocks to listen.

"Garth, what do you smell?" Claire asked as the skinny one sniffed the air around the site. Astrid could see crime scene tape.

"Three vampires. They didn't go back to the road, they headed deeper into the woods. " Closer now, Astrid could see both Claire and the taller man had machetes in sheaves on their legs. Claire carried a handgun.

"Lead on, Garth."

Garth led Claire and the other man into the woods. A couple times Garth looked behind him in her general direction, but she was able to crouch down and hide. She could tell he was getting nervous.

"Claire, I think there might be someone behind us. Brandon, keep an eye out."

Astrid cursed under her breath and dropped back more. At least she now knew the name of the third member of their trio.

As the group passed near a rock outcropping, two men dressed in green shirts and combat pants jumped down in front of them. Garth took a swing at one of them, and the man was thrown back at least ten feet. Claire attacked the other one with the machete, while Brandon tried to flank the man. Garth and the man he had hit were locked into a fistfight where she could see each one was hitting the other with tremendous strength. Movement distracted Astrid to the right of the main action. She could see two other people in combat gear were stealthily moving in the trio's direction.

Claire had been thrown backward by the man she was fighting and Brandon now had the man engaged. Astrid could see the two other attackers were almost on Claire. Astrid shouted, "Look out." Claire scrambled to her feet, turning to the sound of Astrid's voice, right as one of the newcomers attacked her. Claire swung up with her machete, deflecting the attack. Astrid moved from behind the bushes with her own handgun drawn. 

She called out to the other newcomer, "Stop or I'll shoot."

The man just stared at her for a moment, and then broke out running in Astrid's direction. Astrid emptied the clip into the man but he still kept coming. Claire screamed, "Run," in Astrid's direction. Astrid stood still for a moment in shock but then dropped her handgun. As the man approached, Astrid grabbed his arm and swung him into a throw to the ground as she dodged. She could hear Claire fighting in the background. The man stood up again, Astrid took tried to grab him again, but he grabbed her arm with such force that she heard a crunching noise. The man had unbelievable strength and speed. Astrid gasped in shock, as the man's head suddenly separated from his body. Claire stood there covered in blood. Claire swung back around, right as the man she was fighting previously hit her with a device similar to the one they had used on Dean Winchester at the last fight. Claire twitched and collapsed on the ground. The man she was fighting stabbed her deeply with the knife he had been carrying. Astrid rolled forward and grabbed Claire's machete. She swung at the man's neck with a much force as she could muster. The man's head rolled cleanly off. Astrid knelt down and tried to apply pressure to Claire's wound. 

She looked up and saw Garth and Brandon approaching. Brandon was bleeding from his neck, while Garth had cuts along his forearm and side. Astrid picked up the knife that the man had stabbed Claire with and put it in her pocket.

Garth took one look at Claire. He pulled off his jacket and shirt. He rolled the shirt up and made a bandage out of it as best he could. "I'll take her." Garth picked her up. "Brandon, that's all four of this nest. Burn the bodies and meet up with us at the hospital."

Brandon just stared at Claire. Garth broke in again, "Brandon, I know you are hurting right now, but you need to take care of the bodies, while I take Claire to the hospital. Ok? You'll do ok. I know you can." Garth gave him a reassuring glance. Astrid followed Garth. "What can I do to help?"

Garth glanced at her. "Be out of here before Dean Winchester arrives."

"I tried to help."

Garth said as kindly as he could, "Claire could have handled both of them if you hadn't tried to help. Now, please, leave before Dean gets here or you will be in a world of hurt."

Astrid continued to follow him. Garth sighed. "Your car has a back seat?" Astrid nodded. "You drive to the hospital then, while I keep applying pressure to Claire's wound. When the cops show up, do not tell them what you saw. And if you see Dean, run."

Astrid opened up her car. The arm that the man had grabbed was extremely swollen, but she could use it well enough to drive. She set her phone to give directions to the nearest hospital.

When they arrived at the hospital, Garth pulled Claire out of the seat. Astrid noticed that Garth no longer had any injuries on his arm or side. Somehow he had healed. She stared at him. He walked passed her to carry Claire into the hospital and called out, "Help, my friend was attacked. We managed to escape, but she's hurt badly." After nurses had arrived and took Claire from Garth, he stepped back and placed a quick phone call.

A nurse came over to Astrid. "Are you injured too, ma'am?" Astrid without words showed the nurse her arm. The nurse guided her back to a treatment room.

\------

Sam answered the ringing phone. He saw Garth's name as the caller. "Hey Garth, how is it going?"

Garth, sounding more panicked than Sam ever remembered him being, answered, "We killed the vampires, but Claire got hurt badly. That reporter showed up, and Claire got hurt rescuing her. She's lost a lot of blood. I'll call Jody too, but you better get Cas and Dean here."

Sam felt all the blood drain out of his face. This was almost the worst-case scenario.

"We'll be there as fast as we can, Garth."

Missoula was a nineteen-hour drive, at least. Sam grimaced. He felt could get to Kansas City in about three hours. He looked up plane reservations on his phone. There was a flight in five hours to Missoula. Sam walked into the kitchen where Dean was making a pizza, while he and Castiel were debating whether Dr. Sexy belonged with Dr. Piccolo or Dr. Winston.

"I don't know, Cas, Dr. Winston might be the hot new doctor, but Dr. Piccolo has been putting up with him for years."

"Dr. Sexy has an extremely short attention span," Castiel grumbled in his low voice.

Sam cleared his throat. "Guys, Claire's hurt badly. We need to get to her."

Castiel's face look stunned. "Where is she, Sam?"

"Missoula, Montana."

Dean's face looked stormy, "Missoula, like that's where we last saw vampire activity, Missoula? Where we sent Garth, Missoula."

"Sam, did you know that Claire was helping Garth?" Castiel looked at Sam with a penetrating look.

"Garth mentioned he might contact her." Sam looked awkward. "If we fly, we can get there in 8 hours. If we drive, 19."

Dean growled, "We're flying." He stormed out of the room.

Castiel stood still, looking at Sam. "Sam?"

"I'm sorry, Cas. I should have told you." Castiel just stood there, emotion raw on his face. "Cas, go get your things. I'll get the tickets for the flight."

Dean insisted on driving and they made it to Kansas City in two and a half hours. They dropped Gabe off at a kennel in Lebanon they used when he couldn't travel with them. Dean's anger for once seemed to overwhelm his fear of flying. He didn't talk to either Sam or Castiel. Castiel didn't say anything either. He just stared at his lap, not looking up. After they boarded the plane, Castiel could feel Dean shaking. Dean's face was pale and sweat was pouring off of him. Castiel reached over and put two fingers on Dean's forehead. Dean slumped in his chair asleep. 

Castiel looked at Sam across the aisle and said quietly, "That will make the flight easier on him." Castiel looked back down at his lap.

"Cas, I'm sorry, I should have told you."

Castiel just closed his eyes. "If it wasn't Claire, it would be someone else's family doing this journey. You know I could never stop her from doing anything. All I can do is get to her as fast as possible, so I can help her."

The flight seemed to be never-ending to Sam. Castiel kept his eyes shut, ignoring Sam. Dean remained passed out in his seat. When the flight had landed and the plane was taxiing to the terminal, Castiel opened his eyes. He gently shook Dean. Dean woke up, jumping startled from his sleep. "We're almost there, Dean," Castiel murmured. Dean's eyes remained unfocused for a moment, but then the memories came rushing back. Dean glared at Castiel. Castiel got a pained expression and looked away.

Sam arranged for a rental car, while Castiel and Dean leaned against a wall in the terminal. Dean looked at Castiel's face and then intertwined Castiel's fingers with his own. "She'll be ok. She's tough."

Castiel shrugged helplessly. Dean pulled him into his arms. "We'll deal with the other stuff later, Cas. Right now, we'll make sure our girl is okay. All the other stuff will go on the back burner for now." Castiel buried his face in Dean's shoulder and Dean could feel him silently crying. "I love you, Cas."

Sam was back with the keys for the rental car. Castiel and Dean followed him to the car. Sam drove to the hospital, while Castiel and Dean sat in the backseat together, leaning against each other.

\-----------

Astrid sat in the waiting room with Garth. Her arm had been put in a soft cast and she had a sling. It was a hairline fracture, not enough to require a full cast, but she needed to stabilize the arm for a few days. Brandon had arrived at the hospital about an hour ago. He waited grimly on the other side of Garth.

The police had come by. Garth had given them a story about being jumped in the woods by some guys, who then ran off. Astrid just told the police, it happened so fast that all she knew was her arm was being twisted and that Claire had been stabbed.

Garth answered the phone once and talked to someone. Astrid assumed it was one of the Winchesters. She no longer cared about the story. She only cared about the blonde girl who had saved her life and was in surgery fighting for hers now. Garth had advised her to leave twice, but then gave up.

Astrid looked up as the Winchesters and Novak exploded into the waiting room. Dean looked disheveled and frantic. His eyes locked with hers for a moment. He gave her a venomous look, but then walked up to the nurses' station to try to get a doctor to come to talk to them. Sam stayed very close to his brother.

Novak walked towards her, grim fury etched across his face. He stood in front of her, his arms crossed. Sam walked up next to him, put an arm around him, and said, "Claire's coming out of surgery. The doctor is going to talk to us in fifteen or twenty minutes."

Astrid met Novak's gaze and stood up to face him, nose to nose. "Your daughter saved my life, Novak."

He looked at her and pulled her by the arm not in the sling down the hall and into a chapel. Sam started to come after him but stopped at the look on Castiel's face. As the entered the chapel, Astrid noticed it was empty. Astrid stood still, waiting for whatever fury was about to unfold.

"My name is not Novak. My name is Castiel. As I told you before, I am an angel of the Lord. You caused my daughter to get hurt. The only reason I am not smiting you is that you may have saved Dean's life when you helped us before. Stop following us, stop trying to figure us out, stop harassing us, or I will end you."

Astrid looked at him squarely in the face. "I'm sorry that I got Claire hurt. I started researching this to make sure more people didn't get hurt. I was trying to figure out what was going on."

"What is going on isn't your problem. It's much bigger than you. You have no role to play in this story."

Astrid answered, "I want to help with whatever is going on. People are dying. You guys are not preventing that, you are just taking care of the killers. Then more people get killed by someone else."

"We will take care of it." Castiel's eyes were flashing blue and light bulbs burst in sparks around them. All of the hair on the back of Astrid's neck stood up on end.

"You have been taking care of it and people are still being killed, " Astrid continued.

The door to the chapel opened right then. Sam poked his head in. "Cas, the doctor is talking to Dean." Castiel turned on his heel and strode out of the chapel.

Sam came in quietly and stood next to Astrid. "He's a good guy. He's just very protective about those he loves."

"Is he really an angel?"

"Are you going to report that?"

"I have no intention of making a story about this anymore. At least nothing that involves the three of you." Astrid looked up into Sam's eyes. "I just really want to help stop whatever is going on. Innocent people are winding up dead. I think you are trying to prevent that."

"Cas is really an angel. His vessel was Jimmy Novak. He'd dead now and in heaven. Cas considers Claire his daughter. He's a hero that has saved the world. He's made mistakes, but there have been extreme stakes, like the entire world surviving stakes. Dean is my brother and Cas' husband. Dean and I have spent our entire lives hunting things that go bump in the night, like our parents and grandparents before us. Our paths crossed with Castiel's when angels were trying to jump-start the apocalypse and bring Lucifer back from Hell to fight the archangel, Michael. Do you want me to go on or do you think I'm crazy?"

Astrid answered, "I do not think you are, but I think I might be."

Sam smiled. "There are other hunters, like Claire, Garth, and others. They haven't intersected with angels the way that Dean and I have, but they are out there taking cares of vampires, ghouls, revenants, werewolves, ghosts, and a whole other myriad of monsters. Six years ago, a group from Britain came over to try to make the American hunters act like them. But they were heartless killers, they weren't in it to protect innocent people. Their ends didn't justify the means. They rattled the supernatural world in the Americas because they made it disorganized. Monsters have a natural order; most of them try to stay in the shadow to keep safe. The Brits upended that order and in doing so killed the senior vampires that kept the others more or less in line. There's now a new player in the vampire's hierarchy who is making them act in ways they normally wouldn't. We need to find that vampire and kill him."

Astrid sat on one of the pews. Her eyes were wide. Every fiber in her body wanted to tell Sam he was lying, but she thought back to all she had read and seen in the last few days.

Sam sat next to her. "It's a lot to process. We call this 'giving the talk' to civilians to help them become aware that there are things out there that they do not understand. Sometimes, they grasp at straws and build a plausible explanation for everything that happened to them in ways they don't have to accept the supernatural. Sometimes, that is easier for them. Astrid, you have the choice. You can turn around and forget everything you've seen and heard and go back to doing the great work you are doing."

"I want to understand it, Sam. I need to understand it."

Sam put a hand on one of her knees. "I can help you with that if you promise never to publish the things that I show you. Part of the reason this system works is that there is no mass hysteria. The monsters take what they think they need from the shadows and try to keep safe and under the radar. In doing so, there are rarely mass fatalities. They want to stay on the down low for the most part. If you blow it all open, the monsters have nothing to lose from coming out of the shadows. Some monsters living out there aren't evil. They just want to be left alone. Not all vampires drink from humans. Not all werewolves eat human hearts and so on. Being a monster doesn't necessarily automatically mean you're evil. Being a human doesn't automatically mean you're good. There's a range of shades between the dark and the light."

"The Supernatural books, did you write them?"

Sam moved uncomfortably. "A prophet did. He wrote down the stories as he saw them, distorting pieces of information here and there. They are mostly factual."

"Were you married to Becky Rosen?"

Sam choked. "How did you find out about her?"

"She helped the author of the books help organize the Supernatural convention in 2009. I found that she had a fan fiction site. I interviewed her; she said you were married at once time."

Sam gave a short laugh. "She used a love potion on me. It wore off. I got better."

Astrid smiled. "She didn't really seem your type."

Sam gave a serious look. "Dean is going to be a total dick to you. I'm warning you now. He won't physically harm you. I promise that, but he's going to be on your ass because he's going to blame you for Claire being hurt. He'll say angry things; he'll be hurtful. When the people he loves get hurt, he strikes out at whatever he feels caused them to get hurt."

Astrid nodded. "I understand."

Sam gave her a gentle smile and squeezed her hand. "I've got to go check on Claire." Sam left Astrid in the chapel, as he headed back to the waiting room.

\------

The doctor came out and told Dean and Castiel that Claire had gotten through the surgery. Her lung had been punctured, a kidney nicked, and she lost quite a bit of blood; however, they had been able to stop the internal bleeding and get her on the path to healing. He told them they could go see her in a few minutes.

Brandon hugged Garth when he heard those words. "Thank God."

Castiel stared at Brandon intensely. "God had little to nothing to do with this. Thank the surgeons instead. Who are you?"

Garth looked nonchalantly at Castiel. "Oh, this is Brandon Sands. He and Claire are partners now."

Dean looked at the young man up and down, appraising him. Brandon was good looking in a Clark Kent sort of way. He had glasses, was well muscled, and an air of naivete around him. "What kind of partners?"

Brandon gulped. "We met on the trail of a Wendigo. I was using thermal imaging technology to try to find where the lair was, while Claire was following its trail in the woods. We sort of met outside the Wendigo's lair. She used a butane torch and a lighter, while I had made a self-contained weapon that acted like a flamethrower. It worked. We saved people and killed the Wendigo. We started traveling together after that."

Dean looked at him suspiciously, "How did you get into hunting?"

"Oh, it was stories my great aunt, Josie, had written in her journal. My mother grew up on those stories, and she caught the bug for seeking out the supernatural at an early age. She sought out hunters and learned what she could from them. She paired up with a hunter named John about 28 years ago for a few hunts, and that resulted in me. They never married and Mom gave up hunting to become a librarian for a few years. When I was fourteen, she took me out on my first hunt."

Dean looked at him through narrowed eyes. "This John have a last name?"

"He never gave my mom one. She died four years ago. After all those years of hunting, a drunk driver hit her crossing a crosswalk. " Dean searched the young man's face. If he squinted, Brandon's eyes looked quite a bit like Sam's. John was a common name though. Dean frowned.

Castiel looked at Brandon. "Only hunter partners or partner partners?"

Brandon shifted nervously in his chair. "Claire really doesn't like to put labels on things."

Garth interjected, "Claire thinks the sun and moon of Brandon. I like him too. You all just hug it out and welcome him to the family."

Dean rolled his eyes at Garth. Garth responded, "Don't make me take Mr. Fizzles out."

Dean sighed. "If you're a friend of Claire's, you are a friend of ours."

"She talks about you and Castiel all the time. She calls you her two dads."

Castiel said dryly, "Funny, she never mentioned you."

Brandon looked off in the distance. 

A nurse came out, "Mr. Novak, you can go see your daughter now."

Castiel and Dean got up and followed the nurse. Claire was lying, looking pale against the white sheets. "Hey dads, I zigged when I should have zagged."

Dean walked over and held her hand. Relief washed across his face. Castiel walked up and touched her forehead. He healed her as much as he felt was prudent while she was still in the hospital. Claire immediately gave him a smile, "Thanks, dad. I feel much better." Castiel smiled and ruffled her hair.

"What happened?" Dean asked.

Claire summarized the way the ambush had gone down and how she had to save Astrid. Dean muttered, "If you hadn't, we would have had one less problem."

Both Castiel and Claire glared at Dean. "Pop, you taught me to save innocent people. She had no clue that her gun wasn't going to do jack against that vampire."

Dean sighed. 

Castiel looked at Claire. "Brandon?"

"Oh, yeah, ummmm. He's my boyfriend and my hunter partner. I was planning to bring him to meet the parents, but just hadn't found the time yet."

"How long have you been seeing him?" Castiel probed.

"Two years."

Dean roared, "Two years?"

Claire smiled sweetly at Dean. "I love you, Pop."

Castiel pointed out, "You did once tie one of her boyfriends to a tree in the middle of a forest."

"That's because he made her walk home after a fight. Gentlemen don’t do that."

Claire snorted, "Since when you were a gentleman, Pop?"

Sam looked on from the doorway. He sighed in relief. Everything would be okay.


	7. Behold the Supernatural

Claire stayed in the hospital overnight. When Dean, Castiel, and Sam arrived the next morning, they saw Astrid sitting in a chair. Dean strode over to her, "What are you still doing here?"

Sam spoke up, "She's waiting for me, Dean. I told her I would talk to her more about what is going on."

"You are just going to lie in bed with the enemy now, Sam?" Dean growled.

Sam felt awkward at Dean's phrasing and responded, "She's not the enemy, Dean. She was just seeking answers. I'm going to give her some."

"What, so her face can be on 20/20 again? Or, alternatively, she winds up in a mental hospital because no one will believe her?"

Sam sighed at Dean, "Can we talk over there a minute?"

Dean followed Sam. Castiel just stood, staring at Astrid. The tension radiated from him. 

Sam whispered to Dean, "She has integrity. She says she won't publish things and I believe her. She wants to help. She has resources that we might be able to tap to help us."

Dean looked irritated. "People who help us wind up dead. Do I need to list them out for you? Ellen, Jo, Ash, Kevin, Bobby, Charlie, Eileen, Crowley…"

"No, Dean. I know everyone we've lost. I just want to make sure we get her to a place that she won't be interested in following us anymore. That she'll have the answers that she needs to put all this behind her."

Dean shrugged. "If she winds up dead, it won't be my fault and I won't cry about it."

He walked over to Castiel, put his arm around him, and started walking to Claire's room. As Sam approached Astrid, Jody came storming into the waiting room. "Where's Claire?"

Sam went over and hugged Jody. Jody saw Astrid, "Is that the reporter? That's the reporter. " Jody started in Astrid's direction, but Sam grabbed her arm. 

"Dean and Cas have already given her a lot of shit, Jody. You'd be wasting your energy. Claire is in room 213." Jody glared at Astrid and walked down the hallway.

Astrid looked at Sam tiredly, "I've made such a good first impression on this family."

Sam smiled at her, "We all need anger management classes most days, but we're family. Let's go get some coffee."

He and Astrid went down the elevator, Astrid was surprised that Sam headed out the front door of the hospital instead of heading for the cafeteria. She looked at Sam. 

"I hate hospital coffee, Astrid. I've spent too many times in hospitals drinking it. There's a Starbucks right around the corner."

Sam walked with her silently. When the got to Starbucks, both gave their coffee orders. Sam paid and waited for the barista to make the drinks, while Astrid found a table in a corner of the coffee shop. After receiving the coffee, Sam sat across from her and slid her coffee across the table.

"Ok, Astrid. Ask me what you want to know."

"I don't even know where to start. Explain 2011. The mass healings, the mass slayings, the crime spree, everything?"

Sam smiled, "Cliff notes version. Cas brought me back from hell, but without my soul. Castiel was fighting a civil war in heaven to stop the apocalypse. Cas decided the best way was to get souls out of Purgatory and pull them into himself. It worked. He finished the civil war in Heaven, but he got corrupted by the dark souls that inhabited him. He did some awful things and some good things on Earth and in Heaven. Then, the monsters called Leviathans escaped and we lost Cas for a while. They could take on the form of anyone. They copied us to draw attention on us so we'd have more problems defeating them. Dean and I didn't hurt anyone during that crime spree; we just learned how to operate under the radar. The Leviathans plan didn't work though; we still sent them back to Purgatory."

"Is Castiel stable now?" Astrid felt tense as she remembered the way Castiel had faced her down the previous day.

"Cas is a sweetheart, Astrid. He is the kindest, funniest, sweetest being I've ever known. He is also a badass angel and puts everything out on the line for everyone. I love him. Not the same way Dean does, obviously. He's my brother."

"How about how you came back to life?"

"Dean sold his soul for me to be resurrected and wound up in Hell. After Dean was killed, Cas got him out of hell. Another time Dean died, he had a curse on him that made him resurrect as a demon. That curse has been removed. Cas has died a few times, but usually, there's been divine intervention on his behalf."

Astrid nodded. "Okay, what help do you need to track down the vampires?"

"That's it? That's all you want to know?"

Astrid nodded. "I'm in. Just tell me what you need help with. I'm a great researcher."

Sam looked at her confused. "You are just going to accept that and go with it?"

"Sam, I have seen things that I don't understand for the past several days. My thought is either I accept myself as crazy or I could with the plausible, yet supernatural, explanation that an incredibly handsome man has given me. I'll go with option 2."

Sam felt a faint blush. "Well, we could use better research into the killers. "

"Okay, fair enough. Brandon burned the bodies of the last ones before we figured out who they were."

Sam sighed, "We burn bodies so things can't resurrect them when we have the time."

She smiled at Sam, "But I did run the prints off the knife that stabbed Claire. The name of the man is Walter Prescott. He arrived in Missoula 12 days ago, according to airline records. Four tickets were booked at the same time. The other men's names were Dustin Grimes, Bruce Cates, and Jeremy Hansen. They flew here from Pontiac, Illinois. All four men went on a hunting trip to Michigan last March. None of them returned home. Police decided they drowned on the lake. They all lived in Detroit, Michigan, prior to their disappearance."

"So, they'd only been vampires for maybe six months," Sam mused.

"Before that they were a dentist, a bank manager, an auto mechanic, and a shoe salesman. They had all booked the hunting trip via a company called Hunter Travels. They did not know each other before the hunting trip."

Sam pulled out the name of the female vampires they had killed in Austin. "Can you see if these four have any connection to Hunter Travels?"

Astrid smiled, "I'll get on that." She pulled out her laptop.

Sam watched her sipping his coffee. In some ways, she reminded him of Charlie, and in other ways, Jess. He watched her out of the corner of his eye while appearing to be watching out the window. He loved the way that she chewed her bottom lip while she was concentrating. She looked absolutely perfect with no makeup on and her hair in a sloppy ponytail, with wisps of hair escaping. She was wearing a blue t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and purple running shoes. Somehow, she was more attractive to him at her laptop, than any model he had seen on television or in a magazine. Sam looked away. He knew he shouldn't let his mind run down such paths. Dean wanted to hate her at first glance, and Castiel wasn't much of a fan either.

He suddenly realized she was talking to him. He had been so lost in thought, he hadn't heard her. 

Astrid smiled, "Earth to Sam. Are you reading me, Sam?"

"Oh yeah, I'm sorry, Astrid. Thinking about Claire."

Astrid looked down for a moment, disheartened. Sam mentally kicked himself for mentioning Claire. "So, Astrid, what did you find?"

"Oh, the Austin girls all were on a cruise on the West coast. They disappeared in Vancouver after the ship stopped there and never returned. Now, get this, none of these girls had close family members. And they booked their travel through, ready for this, Hunter Travels."

"Where is Hunter Travels based?" 

"Lawrence, Kansas."

Sam shook his head. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"It's where you were born."

Sam nodded. "Right outside of Lawrence is also where the big showdown was between Michael and Lucifer. Detroit, Michigan, is where Lucifer possessed me. See if these four men have any relationship to Pontiac, Illinois?"

She took the names and recognized them as the four vampires that they had killed in Flagstaff. She looked up a few minutes later. "They booked a tour that followed the original route of Route 66. One of the stops was Pontiac, Illinois. However, they didn't disappear until Oklahoma City. All of them were single, so no one reported them missing for a while."

"So, from there they went to Shreveport and caught our attention there, but moved on to Flagstaff before we caught up."

"Pontiac, Illinois, is both where Cas got his human vessel and Dean was resurrected by Cas." Sam frowned.

Astrid turned her computer to face Sam. "Here's the website for Hunter Travels. Want to book a tour?" She gave him an impish smile.

He grinned back at her, "I'm in. But, we'll need to talk to Cas and Dean too."

Sam spent the rest of the morning with her, going over how to kill different types of monsters. Neither of them noticed the time fly by until Astrid's stomach growled. They left together in search of a diner.

\------

Castiel was sitting next to Claire, doing a crossword puzzle with her. He looked up when Dean entered the room. Jody had gone to buy Claire some new clothes. Castiel kept healing her slowly, to give her time to recover from her blood loss and not to arouse too much suspicion. The doctor said Claire would be released in the morning.

Dean frowned at Castiel. "Sam's still not back."

Claire gave Dean an annoyed look, "Call him if you are worried."

"No, if he wants to be with that turncoat reporter, let him."

"Pop, you do know she saved my life. "

Dean frowned at her. "She wouldn't have needed to if she hadn't distracted you."

Castiel frowned at Dean. "As much as it pains me to say so, she also possibly saved your life. If she really meant to harm us, she had plenty of opportunities."

"Are you on this Astrid's side too?"

Castiel shook his head. "Dean, I am always on your side. You just sometimes don't know what your side should be."

"Yeah, well… She stuck her nose into where it didn't belong."

Claire rolled her eyes. "Dad, how do you put up with him?"

Before Castiel could answer, Dean said, "Because I'm cute. Have you seen this face?"

Claire looked at him through narrowed eyes. "No, no you are not, not in the slightest. You are old and wrinkly."

Dean scoffed at her.

Castiel opened his mouth to reply again, as Jody breezed into the room. "Got you some clothes, Claire. Brandon called and said he'll be back in about three hours."

Dean looked at Jody, "How long have you known about Brandon?"

Jody looked at Dean, "About a year, why?"

Dean glared at Claire. She reminded him, "You tied my last boyfriend to a tree, Pop."

"He deserved it."

"You left him out in the rain."

Dean looked at Claire. "So, he deserved it."

Claire sighed and looked at Castiel. He shrugged at Claire, "It's with great patience and care that I put up with him."

Claire snorted. Dean pulled his phone out of his pocket to glance at it, still no text messages from Sam. He sighed and put it on the bedside hospital tray. Claire waited until Dean turned to talk to Jody, and grabbed it and pushed the contact for Sam.

Dean bellowed, "Hey." He tried to pull the phone away from Claire, gently as not to hurt her.

Claire yelled, "Sam, call Dean, his boxers are twisted in a knot." Dean hung up the phone.

Castiel raised his eyebrow. "Claire must be feeling much better." Claire shot Castiel a wide grin.

Dean's phone rang. Dean saw Sam's name on the phone and sighed. He walked into the hall. "Hey, Sam."

"Is something the matter? I heard Claire shout my name and that was it."

Dean grimaced. "Just wondering where you are. And if you wanted to meet me and Cas for dinner. Jody's back so I thought she could spend some time with Claire."

"Astrid and I are at the diner right down the street. We haven't ordered yet. Why don't you and Cas come join us."

Dean's voice growled, "Sam…"

"Please, Dean. Give her a chance. She's found out a lot of info for us."

"She also got Claire hurt. But ok. I won't promise to be nice, but we're coming." Dean turned and walked into the room with Claire. "Can I borrow Cas for a while?"

Claire scowled at him. "If it gets your grumpy ass out of here for a while, by all means, take him." Castiel tilted his head and looked at Claire questioningly.

Jody smiled, "Go ahead. Claire and I haven't had a chance to spend some time together for a few months."

Castiel nodded, shoving his puzzle book deep into his pocket. He walked with Dean quietly to the diner. Dean spotted Astrid and Sam in a corner booth. Astrid and Sam were sitting on the same side of the booth. Dean approached and slid in opposite to them. Castiel sat next to him.

"So, Dean, get this…" Sam started.

Dean groaned. "Can we order food first?"

As if she heard them, the waitress appeared. Dean, Castiel, and Astrid all ordered cheeseburgers. Astrid ordered hers with extra cheese. Sam ordered his standard fare of a salad with grilled chicken. Dean also ordered a round of beers.

"Okay, Sam, shoot," Dean said as he took a long drink of his beer.

"There's a connection between all the vampires. They all were on tours booked through Hunters Travel, based in Lawrence."

Dean stared at Sam, "Isn't this a little bit too obvious?"

Sam nodded. "They want us to find them."

"So, what are we going to do? Wander in there and say 'Hey, we're here. Come gank us.'"

"Yep," Sam leaned back and smiled.

Dean shrugged, "Simple plan, I like it."

Astrid looked at them confused. "Shouldn't you like be sneakier or something?"

Castiel shrugged, "We tend to make it up as we go along. It's just easier that way."

Dean looked at Astrid, "No plan survives first contact with the enemy."

"I was in the Marines. We certainly had better planning than that."

Dean shrugged, "If you don't like it, you can get off the bus."

Sam glared at Dean.

Astrid met Dean's glare. "I can improvise."

"You ain't going anyway."

Astrid snorted, "Like hell, I'm not."

Dean glared at Sam, "Sam?"

"We could use the help, Dean."

"Sam, she's not a hunter."

Castiel spoke up, "I think she should go." Dean, Sam, and Astrid all turned to stare at Castiel. Castiel continued, "She needs her questions answered. She won't stop wondering until she sees it all." Castiel stared at her, "It's nasty, bloody, corrupt, hopeless, hapless, and horrible. You can't get in the game without getting your hands dirty. No matter how good your intentions are, you will make mistakes. Things will go wrong. You'll hate yourself, but you'll do it again and again because once you are sucked into this life, you will never escape. You will fall. You will become the exact monster you are facing. The only thing that will make you different than the monsters you are chasing is your intentions and where you draw the demarcation line between where the ends justify the means."

Everyone else at the table fell quiet. Castiel looked on impassively as he took a sip of his beer.

"Well, tell her like it is, Cas." Dean looked startled.

Castiel shrugged. "She won't come out of it unscathed. You come with us; you will never be the same. If you accept that, come. If you don't, leave and never bother us again. It's up to you." Castiel stood up. "Dean, have an extra hamburger. I'm going back to the hospital. My daughter got injured because someone had to satisfy her curiosity." Castiel walked out.

Dean watched Castiel leave.

Astrid said quietly, "I'm so sorry Claire got hurt."

Dean shrugged, "Claire knew what she was doing. Castiel laid it out for you. Do what you want." He signaled the waitress.

When the waitress arrived, Dean asked, "Can you please box up two of the hamburgers to go?"

Sam started, "Dean…"

"No, Sam. You just make your plans, point me in the direction you want me to kill things, and I'll kill them. I'm tired. I just want to go take care of my husband." When the waitress came with the meals to go, Dean slid out of the booth. "I would say it was nice meeting you, Astrid, but that would be lying. Call me, Sam, when you need me."

Astrid sat silently next to Sam. "They are complicated, Astrid."

"No, they are right. I blundered into something I knew nothing about."

"Because you wanted to help people. I've seen your stories, your work. All you wanted to do was help people."

Astrid looked at Sam. "I got my fiancé killed because I couldn't stop. Steven wanted to come home. I didn't want to, because I thought we should do just one more story."

Sam smiled at her, "You and Dean are a lot alike, actually."

Astrid stared at him, "I don’t see it."

"You don't see Dean like I do. Astrid, you can come with us if you want. Neither Dean nor Cas will be particularly nice to you at times. Both of them would give their lives to keep you safe though."

"I'd probably just get in the way."

"You have already figured out more in an afternoon than I did in four days. We really could use the help." Sam looked at her earnestly. She stared into his eyes, feeling suddenly warm. Sam leaned over and kissed her gently. She responded, putting one hand on each side of his face as she returned his kiss.

The waitress cleared her throat. "One hamburger, one salad. Can I get you anything else?"

Sam said dazed, "I don't think so."

\-------

A nurse was pushing Claire in a wheelchair with Jody, Dean, and Castiel following her when Sam and Astrid arrived at the hospital the next morning. Dean ignored Sam, while they got Claire to the curb where Brandon was waiting in her car. Their plans were for Brandon to follow Jody to Sioux Falls, and for Claire and Brandon to relax there a while before jumping back into the hunting saddle again. After they got Claire settled in the seat, Castiel leaned in to kiss her cheek. 

Claire looked up at him, "Love you, dad."

Castiel gave her a warm smile and put his two fingers on her forehead, healing her up the best he could the rest of the way. Castiel gave Brandon a stern look, "Drive carefully and take care of her. I will hold you accountable if anything happens to her." Brandon gulped.

"Yes, sir."

Dean reached in and hugged Claire. He then glanced at Brandon pointedly, "What he said." Brandon nodded nervously.

Sam squatted next to the door. "Bye Claire. It was good to see you. Next time, we'll do it under happier circumstances."

Claire smiled, "Bye, Sam. Take care of my two doofuses for me."

Dean and Castiel held hands, while they watched Brandon drove the car away. Castiel watched it until it disappeared out of sight. Dean turned to Jody, "You take care of them."

Jody smiled and hugged Dean, "You know I will."

Sam enveloped Jody in a large hug. "See you soon, Jody." 

Jody walked in the direction of her sheriff's vehicle.

Dean turned to Astrid. "So, against our better judgment, you and Sam decided you are coming with us?"

Astrid nodded slowly.

"Okay, then. Rules. Driver picks the music, shotgun and passengers shut their cake hole. Don't take a joint from a guy named Don and no dogs in the car, except Gabe. We drive long hours, so don't bitch about a bathroom break every hour. If we get in a fight with anything, and I mean anything, you do exactly what Sam, Cas, or I tell you to do. Even if it is to run away. You got that?"

"Yes, sir."

"Sam, you and her in the backseat. Cas rides in front with me. That is after we get a car. Meet us back at that diner in a half hour. Come on, Cas."

Castiel started to follow Dean but paused. He turned around to face Astrid. He put two fingers on her forehead. "You no longer need your arm brace." He turned around and walked quickly to catch up with Dean.

Astrid looked up at Sam, "Where's he going to find a car in a half hour?"

Sam murmured, "You don’t want to know."

When Dean drove up in an '82 Chevelle a half hour later, Sam was waiting with four coffees and breakfast tacos. He and Astrid slid into the backseat, and Sam handed coffee up and breakfast tacos to the front seat. Castiel thanked him, nicely, while Dean grumbled something under his breath. 

Sam answered, "You're welcome."

Castiel commented, "I called to check on Gabe. I told them we might be gone a couple of weeks and one of his favorite vet techs is going to take him home until we get back, so he doesn't have to stay in a kennel the entire time."

"We're going to head to Lawrence, but I'll stop by and pick up the Impala from the airport," Dean announced to no one in particular and then he turned the volume of the radio way up to deter conversation. 

Astrid looked uncomfortably at Sam. Sam leaned over and said in her ear, "This is normal Dean." He held her hand comforting. She relaxed back into the seat and drifted off to sleep. Sam fell asleep a few minutes later.

After Dean noticed them asleep, he turned down the music. "Is it my imagination, Cas, or is Sam acting all dewy-eyed around her?"

Castiel sighed, "He likes her Dean. He liked her before he ever met her. I fear this won't end well, but it's Sam's life. He's been lonely a very long time."

Dean held out his hand for Castiel. Castiel intertwined his fingers with Dean's and smiled.

"Are we good, Cas?"

Castiel squeezed his hand. "We're good, Dean. We've been better, but we're still good."

"Sometimes the apocalypse seems like simpler times." 

Castiel gave a short laugh, "It was. Everything was so black and white, and now we are surrounded in shades of grey."

"Yep."

They drove like that for hours. Sam and Astrid continued to sleep in the back of the car, while Dean drove quietly, holding Castiel's hand. Sam woke up when the car pulled into a gas station, but Astrid was still sleeping. The long days and nights had caught up with her. 

Castiel and Dean got out of the car. Castiel went into the Gas N Sip, while Dean pumped gas. Dean yawned at Sam, "We're stopping for the night in Cheyenne for the night in a little bit, Sam. We'll get dinner at the next place we see. You might want to start waking her up. It's a good time for a bio break if she needs one."

Sam nodded and shook Astrid's shoulder gently. "Hey, Astrid."

Her eyes flew open and looked around startled. "Where are we?"

"Outside of Cheyenne, Wyoming. We're stopped for a few minutes if you need to stretch your legs."

Astrid stretched and got out of the backseat, heading in the direction of the restrooms. Dean looked at Sam. "You know what you are doing, Sammy?"

"Yeah, getting help from someone who is helpful," Sam said defensively.

"Don't get attached to her. This isn't the life for her," Dean looked at Sam compassionately.

"Dean, we've been spinning our wheels trying to figure things out for a month now. Astrid has figured out more than I did in that time in a day. She has access to things that I didn't even know to look at."

"I get it. You two need to nerd out together. But Sam, you know better than to involve a civilian in this life. We lose even those that know about it. She already blundered into something that almost got Claire killed. I don't hate her; I get where she's coming from. I just don't want you to get hurt. Just because you have feelings for someone, doesn't mean you should be with them. I learned that with Lisa. Look at all the crap she had to go through…"

Sam growled, "First of all, Dean, I just met her. Secondly, she's a former Marine and a war reporter. She knows her crap. Third of all, perhaps Lisa didn't work out because you knew you were supposed to be with Cas. He came back, and you left her in the dust."

"Shut up, Sam."

Castiel returned then with a bag of water bottles and snacks. "Everything okay, here?"

Dean nodded, "Yeah, Cas, just talking."

Castiel looked between the two of them. He took a bottle of water and some jerky out of the bag and handed the rest of the bag to Sam. "I got you some fruit, and a variety of things for Astrid because I didn't know what she likes."

Sam gave him a grateful look. "Thanks, Cas."

Castiel got back in the car and handed the jerky and water to Dean as he entered it. After Astrid returned, Dean restarted the car and headed into Cheyenne. He found a run-down motel with a diner next to it. As Dean parked the car, he proclaimed, "Welcome to the Winchester style of life. We stay at flea-bag motels and eat at greasy spoons. We have such glamorous lives."

Astrid shrugged. "I've been in worst. Lived in a tent in Afghanistan when it was 110 degrees in the shade and no running water. This is luxury."

Dean nodded, "Point for you."

After eating at the diner, they checked into the motel. Astrid got her own room, while Sam, Dean, and Castiel stayed in the other one. The next morning, Astrid knocked on the door to the men's room at 6:30. Castiel answered the door. She carried a tray of coffee and a bag of pastries. "You boys ready to go?"

Castiel whisked one of the cups of coffee away from her. "Don't talk to Dean until he has had his morning caffeine. He wakes up very angry." Castiel handed the cup of coffee to Dean, who silently drank the coffee.

Sam looked at Astrid, "Good morning!"

She smiled at Sam, "A good morning to you too! It's a beautiful day out there."

Dean grumbled, "She's a morning person isn't she? Just my luck, another morning person."

Castiel glared at Dean. "Drink your coffee and be polite." He ruffled Dean's hair.

"Stop that, Cas."

When Dean finished his cup of coffee, he seemed more relaxed. "Ok, we'll drive to Kansas City today, pick up the Impala and head to Lawrence."

As Dean and Castiel loaded the car, Sam walked with Astrid over to a stand of trees nearby. "They aren't so bad, are they?"

"They are kind of cute together. Have they been together long?" Astrid watched as Castiel and Dean bickered about where to put what in the trunk.

"Five years married, another eleven dancing around each other until they admitted their feelings. We're an odd bunch, but we're family."

Astrid sighed slightly, "It must be nice to have a family like that. I have a bigger family, but with a lot less love."

When the car was loaded, Dean motioned them over. He turned on Led Zeppelin loudly as they headed to Kansas City. Castiel and Dean switched positions driving a few times and drove straight through in about eleven hours. When they arrived, they changed to the Impala and checked into another hotel. They decided to head the short distance to Lawrence the next morning.

Sam was relieved they had made it through the trip without any major battles, and everyone seemed to be getting along well.


	8. Ain't No Sunshine

When they arrived in Lawrence the next morning, Dean and Sam went into Hunter Travels while Castiel and Astrid waited for them at a nearby coffee shop. The office was small and non-descript. The furniture was worn; the couch looked vintage seventies Naugahyde style. Behind an old, stained desk, a woman was reading brochures. Her platinum blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail and she wore an extremely tight red dress. The nameplate on her battered desk said Ingrid Baxter.

Dean pulled out his FBI badge and said, "Hello, there Ms. Baxter. My name is Agent Henley. I'm here to ask about a couple of people who used your service. This here is Agent Frey." Sam showed his badge.

Ingrid popped a bubble with chewing gum. "What can I do to help?"

"We have noticed that some people who used your travel agency within the last six months have been killed. Eight of them. The only connection they have is your travel agency."

Ingrid looked a little panicked, "Not everyone stays with every tour. We have people leave tours all the time. They don't like the hotel we pick, or they decide to go home."

"I'd like to talk to the owner of the agency," Dean said firmly.

"Let me go get him," Ingrid stood up and opened a door to an office in the back. She closed the door after her. Sam and Dean could hear someone talking. Ingrid came back a moment later.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Hunter has to leave to pick up his daughter. He said to come back in the morning." Ingrid tried to give them a placating smile.

Dean walked passed her and opened the office door. Ingrid tried to protest, but Sam held her back. The window in the back of the office was open. "Dammit." Dean walked back out.

"Sam check to see if she's a vamp, while I search the office."

Sam turned Ingrid around to face her. "I'm really sorry about this if you aren't what we think you might be. If you cooperate it will be over really fast. All I need you to do is smile." Sam pulled a surgical glove out of his pocket. Ingrid looked terrified at him, but smiled. Sam pressed on her gum gently to see if fangs would appear. When none did, he looked apologetic. "I'm very sorry for that. Do you know anything at all about the disappearances?"

"Only that Mr. Hunter asked me to flag any guests that didn't list contact information or were travelling alone. I assumed he was just trying to hook up similar people on the same tours, so they'd have companions. Then, some people disappeared."

Sam asked, "And it never occurred to you to maybe mention that to the police or something?"

Ingrid trembled, "I'm scared of Mr. Hunter. He gets really angry, and I really need this job."

Sam sighed, "It's in your best interests to lay low for a while. The FBI have been looking for Hunter for a while. Until we catch him, you could be in danger. I suggest going to visit relatives out of town."

Sam escorted Ingrid out. He walked into the office Dean was tearing about. Dean held up a picture, "This is Hunter. He seems to own a house of Fifth Street and an abandoned apartment building on Eighth Street according to the paperwork in his desk. I'm assuming one or both of those are a trap."

Sam nodded, "That seems likely. How do you want to do this?"

"We'll keep the four of us together. First, we'll check out the house and then the apartment building."

Sam and Dean picked up Castiel and Astrid from the coffee shop and drove to the house. They approached it with machetes and guns drawn. Dean kicked open the door and they did a sweep of the house, but it was empty.

As they got back in the Impala, Dean said, "Apartment building it is."

They stopped up the block from the six-story apartment building, but each floor was relatively small with perhaps six units each. The front doors were closed with a padlock. However, Castiel noticed movement in some of the windows on the second story. Castiel murmured, "I have a bad feeling about this, Dean. That could be a huge nest of vampires."

"It could be," Dean frowned. "Not sure how to handle this one."

Sam grimaced, "Definitely a trap."

They approached the building slowly. Besides the front entrance, there was an entrance for deliveries in the back of the building.

Dean sighed, "I'd like to burn it down, but it could just be vagrants in it."

Astrid looked at them quizzically, "You guys are going to go in there, even though you know it's a trap?"

Dean responded, "I don't see much of a choice. If you want out of this rodeo, go ahead and leave. This is much more than we expected."

"Nope, I'm in."

Sam and Dean talked for a few more minutes and decided that Dean and Castiel would take the front of the building, while Astrid and Sam would take the back.

After Astrid and Sam walked way to make their way to the back, Dean turned to face Castiel, "Try to stay close, angel."

Castiel grabbed Dean and gave him a quick kiss before heading towards the front of the building. When they got to the door, Dean gave a slight nod to Castiel. Castiel gave a strong pull on the padlock, breaking it. Dean then kicked the front door in. Castiel charged in and slid to a stop in the middle of the room. Two vampires approached him apprehensively. Dean strode in and engaged the closest vampire, while Castiel smote the other. Dean and Castiel could hear scrimmaging in the back of the building, so they knew that Astrid and Sam were similarly engaged.

Dean managed to decapitate the vampire he was attacking. Castiel watched with a look of disdain as the vampire head rolled across his feet. He glanced up at Dean. Dean had a long scratch down his left cheek but was otherwise unscathed. The room had both a staircase up and a hallway that led towards the back of the building. Dean motioned Castiel to follow him up the staircase. Dean hoped Astrid and Sam would be able to handle the rest of the first floor. Dean cautiously climbed the stairs with Castiel on his heels. At the top of the stairwell, there was a door to the left as well as a hallway leading to some additional doors. Another staircase was on the far wall. Castiel walked down the hallway a few steps, while Dean opened the door to the left. Dean signaled that the room was empty, so Castiel walked to the next door on the right and put his hand on the knob to open it. Castiel suddenly twitched and flew backward, hitting the wall, as a large jolt of electricity arced through his body. Dean could see smoldering burns on Castile’s right hand leading up to elbow.

The door opened to show a tall, burly male vampire with shaggy blonde hair, carrying a large sword. He was easily as tall as Sam. Slightly behind him was a small, wiry female vampire with mousy brown hair. Dean charged at the male vampire, knocking him back into the room before he could bring up the sword. The vampire swung the sword at Dean, but he managed to dodge. The female vampire pulled out a handgun and aimed beyond Dean and the male vampire to Castiel. She unloaded the clip into Castiel. Castiel’s body jerked as each bullet penetrated him.

Dean growled, “Sonovabitch,” as he took another swing at the tall vampire with his machete. Unfortunately, the long sword that the vampire used kept Dean effectively away from using the machete on him. Dean could see the female vampire was drawing a sigil on the wall. He disengaged from the male vampire and leapt at her, but she hit the sigil before he could stop her. He could see the blast of light as Castiel was blown away. Dean was able to decapitate the female vampire, but felt the sword of the male vampire slice deep into his back. Dean shouted, “Sam, help.”

Dean threw himself forward and rolled across the floor to try to get away from the vampire. He turned around as the burly vampire started to approach him again. A wicked grin decorated the vampire’s face. Dean felt dizzy, as he could feel the blood flowing down his back. He scrambled back away from the vampire but his back hit the wall. The vampire swung the sword down and Dean attempted to block the strike with his arm. The sword sliced deeply into his arm.

Dean heard a loud noise as his brother burst in the room. The burly vampire turned to face the new foe. Dean kicked out, catching the vampire in the back of the knee. The vampire fell forward, Sam swung his machete and the vampire’s head went rolling across the floor.

Astrid burst in the room a moment later, with a female vampire on her heels. Seeing Sam, she pivoted and faced the vampire. As the vampire swung her sword towards her, Astrid managed to grab the woman’s arm and flip her across the floor to Sam’s feet. Sam used his machete to kill her.

Sam turned to face Dean, while Astrid kept an eye on the door. Dean was bleeding heavily from a wound in his back and arm. Sam ripped the sheet off the bed in the room and tore it into strips on make bandages for Dean. From what he could tell, the wound was deep but hadn't hit anything critical. However, he would need stitches. The gash on arm was bleeding heavily, but it was fairly straight, so it wouldn’t be hard to deal with. Sam looked around worriedly for Castiel. He noticed the sigil on the floor and realized that Castiel was most likely banished. “Holy crap,” he muttered. He picked up Dean. “Astrid, we need to get out of here.”

She stepped out into the hallway. Two vampires stood between her and the staircase down. Sam wouldn’t be much help because he was supporting Dean’s weight. She stepped back in the room. “Window, Sam.”

Astrid slammed the door shut, noticing for the first time wires connected to the door handle. She shoved the dresser in front of the door and rushed to open the window. It was about a ten-foot drop. She nodded to Sam and then climbed out the window, letting herself drop gently to the ground. Sam quickly lowered Dean out of the window; Astrid took him from Sam and pulled him towards her. After Dean was successfully passed to Astrid, Sam dropped himself out of the window. The Impala was about 80 yards away. Sam picked up Dean in a fireman carry as he and Astrid made a dash for the car. They could hear noises approaching them from behind, but neither turned around to look.

A gunshot went off and Astrid felt a searing pain as the bullet entered her shoulder. She grimaced and kept going. She got into the driver’s seat of the Impala, as Sam pulled himself and Dean into the back seat. She grabbed the keys from behind the visor, started the car and took off the road as fast as she could.

“How is he, Sam?”

“He’ll survive. I don’t know what happened to Cas. They blasted him somewhere. Did you get hit?”

“Yeah, shoulder. Just a flesh wound.”

“We just got our asses handed to us,” Sam muttered.

“Where do I drive to?”

“Hotel back in Lawrence. I need to stitch Dean up.” Sam checked the bandage he had applied to Dean’s back. The bleeding had stopped. He was worried about the amount of blood loss, but he didn’t think he needed a hospital. Hospitals would be questions to be answered. “You able to get us there? Do I need to drive?”

“I got this, Sam.”

He nodded. He pulled out his phone and tried to call Castiel. There was no answer and it went straight to voicemail. “I’m really worried about Cas. I heard at least six gunshots before we got up there. He usually can take bullets fairly well, but getting blasted after getting shot had to hurt.”

When they arrived at the motel, Sam secured a room. He had put on a clean t-shirt to try to look a little less scary, but Dean's blood had soaked into his pants. However, the old man barely looked at Sam while he checked him in because the man was fixated on watching Jeopardy on an old crackly tv attached to the wall in the hotel lobby.

Sam carried Dean, still unconscious, into the motel room. He gathered his med kit and whiskey. He poured whiskey generously over the slash in Dean’s back and then proceeded to stitch him up. Dean regained consciousness about halfway through the procedure.

Dean groaned, “Cas?”

Sam said in a steady voice, “I don’t know where he is. Stay still.”

Dean complied as Sam finished stitching up his back. When Sam was done, he helped Dean sit up and handed him the whiskey. Dean took a long drink, then handed the bottle back to Sam. Sam doused his arm before starting to stitch it up.

“Sam, the bastards electrified the door. Cas went to open it and it zapped him. Then the bitch shot him repeatedly before banishing him. I’m not sure how badly he was hurt.”

“I tried calling him, Dean. No answer. I’ll try again when I’m done with your arm.” Sam said lightly, trying not to freak out so that Dean wouldn’t. Sam finished stitching up Dean’s arm and pulled out his phone again. He tried Castiel again and it went to voicemail.

“Let me look at Astrid’s shoulder and then I’ll see if I can pick up Cas’ phone GPS.”

Dean nodded, rolling over to face down in the bed. He was willing himself not to lose consciousness again, but he feared it was a losing battle.

Sam handed Astrid the bottle of whiskey. She took a long swig and then removed her jacket. A bullet had entered her left shoulder, but it hadn’t gone all the way through. Luckily, it hadn’t hit bone. Sam managed to pry out the bullet, but it looked strange to him. He finished stitching up Astrid.

She smiled at him gratefully. “Thank you, Sam.”

Sam kissed her gently for a moment and then took the bullet to look at it under a brighter light. Sam gasped as he realized it was an angel-killing bullet, made from an old angel blade. Sam looked at Dean, who was near collapse again. He swallowed and said nothing.

Astrid asked, “What now, Sam?”

“You and Dean rest for a bit, while I try to track down Cas.” Astrid nodded and laid down on the other bed.

Sam pulled out his laptop and sat at the small table in the hotel room. Sam searched the phone company's system to try to locate Castiel’s phone. He didn’t get a location. Sam leaned back in his chair, running his fingers through his hair. Sam realized that if there was enough of an electrical jolt to hurt Castiel, it might have shorted out his phone. He sighed deeply. He would have to try to locate Castiel using magic or other techniques back at the bunker.

He let the others sleep for two hours and then helped them into the Impala. Sam drove as fast as he could to the bunker. He wanted to be there before Dean was alert enough to realize how bad the situation was for Castiel. He knew Dean was going to freak out, and he wanted him to do it in the confines of the bunker.

Sam kept looking at Dean in the backseat as he drove through the night to the bunker. Sam wondered if sigils would banish dead angels. He didn’t think they would because it was the grace that caused the sigil banishment to work. If Castiel had been dead, there wouldn’t have been any grace left. So, if Castiel survived the banishment, he wound up wherever he did with potentially six angel-killing bullets inside him and burns. Sam frowned grimly. None of this seemed to bode well for the angel.

He felt Astrid’s hand on his knee.

“You ok, Sam?”

“Just worried about Cas, Astrid. We don’t usually get our asses handed to us so easily. You and I killed three vamps at the back entrance. Cas and Dean killed two on the first floor and then two on the second floor. There was the one following you. And then the two that are still alive. So, there’s at least eleven vamps. We were outgunned and outclassed.”

“Dean said it was a trap.”

Sam nodded grimly. He glanced at the backseat to make sure that he was still asleep.

“Astrid, if you melt an angel blade down, you can make angel-killing bullets from it. The one that hit you was an angel-killing bullet. If six of those hit Cas…”

“He could be dead?”

Sam nodded grimly. “Now, Cas has a way of coming back to us, even when we are ready to count him out. So, I’m not going to give up hope. But Dean is going to be a mess when I tell him about the bullets. Dean slides downhill fast whenever anything happens to Cas. It’s not going to be pretty.”

Astrid nodded and asked in a quiet voice, “Did me being there cause any of this? Did I throw everyone off balance?”

“Oh, no, Astrid. You helped a lot. We were simply outgunned. They knew how to neutralize Cas. Nothing you did caused the way that situation went down.”

Astrid breathed a sigh of relief. “It all happened so fast.”

“Vamps move really fast, so when you fight them, it feels like you are so much slower than normal.” Sam and Astrid grew quiet as they drove through the night until they arrived at the bunker two hours later.

Dean was still groggy from the blood loss. When Sam woke him up to get him out of the car, Dean asked faintly, “Cas?”

Sam shook his head, “No, not yet, Dean.” Sam felt relieved that Dean was too groggy to press for more information. Sam got Dean into bed with a minimum of fuss.

Sam then called Jody to tell her what happened. She assured him that she’d keep a lookout for any reports of Castiel that went through law enforcement channels. Sam also called Garth to ask him to keep an ear out.

Sam found Astrid sitting on the map table. “Oh, I need to show you around I guess.” Sam smiled faintly.

He led Astrid through the most common areas on the bunker, pointing out the library, kitchen, laundry room, storage room, and the dungeon. Astrid walked around in a daze trying to take it all in.

After completing the short tour, Sam led her to the hallway with the bedrooms off it. "There's a lot more rooms but we don't use those as often. Here's our guest room, " he said as he opened up the door. The room was really spartan, with the 50s era furniture. But he and Dean had put a decent mattress in the room and it was clean. "It could use a few more decorations I guess."

"The whole bunker is beautiful, Sam. It's so amazing."

Sam looked worried for a moment, "I would love to say go ahead and explore, but we tend to be cautious when entering new rooms, because we've found things that can be dangerous sometimes. So, it's probably a good thing if you just stick to the areas I've shown you. My bedroom is next door and Dean's is across the hall."

"I'll behave myself, Sam." She then reached up with her good arm and pulled Sam's face down to she could kiss him. As the pain in her shoulder increased, she pulled back. "Or maybe I won't behave."

Sam put his hand on the side of her face, and ran his thumb across her cheek a few times. "You rest now, and I'll go look for a way to find Cas."

Sam sat at the laptop for hours, trying to find anything reports that could possibly lead to Cas. His eyes were growing heavy, but he was determined to find out something to tell Dean, to give him some hope that they would be able to locate Castiel.

Around 5:00 in the morning, Dean staggered into the room. His face was ragged with pain. "Any sign of Cas, Sam?"

"Dean, sit down."

Dean's face looked panic-stricken as he sat in the nearest chair. Dean said tensely, "What's the bad news, Sam?"

Sam sighed and pulled the bullet he had removed from Astrid and pushed it across the table to Dean. "That's the bullet I dug out of Astrid's shoulder."

Dean looked at the bullet and his face paled. "She fired at least six or seven shots into, Cas."

"The sigil still worked, so Cas was alive when he was blasted away. The bullets didn't kill him outright, Dean. That's good news." Sam tried to look at Dean reassuringly, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"There was maybe a minute between when she shot him and blasted him. And blasting a wounded angel can kill the angel," Dean said grimly.

"You know Cas always returns."

"We say that, and it will be true until the time he doesn't." Dean looked at the map table. He swiped his hand across his eyes, removing the moisture from the tears that were forming.

"I'm looking Dean. I won't stop until I find him. Jody and Garth are looking too. Jody said she would call Mom and ask her to join in as well. We'll find him."

Dean staggered to his feet. He walked over to the whiskey cabinet and pulled out a bottle. "I'll be in my room, Sam. I can barely stand up."

Sam wanted to tell Dean not to drink, but he kept his mouth shut as Dean took the bottle and headed back to his room. He stared at his computer and started looking for reports again.

\----

Sam was asleep with his forehead on his laptop, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up bleary-eyed at Astrid.

She said softly, "Sam, go get some sleep. I'll keep hunting for him."

Sam wanted to resist, but he knew his mind was too fuzzy to be helpful at that point. The best thing he could do was to get some sleep. "There's frozen waffles in the freezer. Don't trust anything in the fridge because we haven't been back in a while. Help yourself to anything that doesn't look green and fuzzy."

Astrid nodded and watched Sam go down the hall. She walked into the kitchen, found a Hot Pocket in the freezer, and cooked it in the microwave. She then retrieved her own laptop from her duffle bag and set herself up at the map table. She found reports of a meteor seen during daylight over Kansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota around the time that Castiel had been banished. She focused in on South Dakota but couldn't find anything any reports that would indicate Castiel had been found. She chewed on her bottom lip. She started looking county by county in the trajectory of the meteor to see if there were any news reports and sightings.

Sam rejoined her a couple of hours later. She looked up, "Sam, do you think Jody could call law enforcement at these counties in South Dakota. I think I found a meteor that might be Cas."

Sam looked at her with wide eyes. Astrid continually amazed him. He had mentioned once that a banished angel sometimes looked like a fiery glow and she thought to look for that. He hadn't. "I'll call her immediately."

"He might have continued on into North Dakota. It's pretty desolate there, so there's not as many people to report things."

After calling Jody, Sam went to go look in at Dean. The whiskey bottle was half empty. Sam frowned. Dean's breath seemed labored, so Sam cross the floor and touched Dean's forehead. Dean felt feverish. Sam left the room to retrieve fresh bandages, antiseptic cream, Tylenol, and some antibiotics. He touched Dean's shoulder gently, "Dean?"

Dean's eyes flew open. He was still obviously drunk, "You find him, Sammy?"

"Not yet, Dean, but I need to clean your wounds. I am afraid they are becoming infected."

"No point, Sammy."

Sam growled, "Cas is going to so kick your ass if you don't take care of yourself when he's gone, you know that."

"Dead, Sammy."

"We don't know that, dumbass. So, shut up and let me treat your back."

Dean sighed and rolled over. He grimaced as Sam changed the bandages but didn't say a word. After Sam finished rebandaging his back and arm, he handed Dean the pills and a bottle of water. "Take these."

Dean looked at him defiantly.

"Take them or I will tell Cas when I find him that you were totally uncooperative and drunk off your ass."

Dean frowned and took the pills.

Sam knelt near the bed next to Dean. "Astrid is on his trail I think. We'll find him, Dean. We'll bring him home."

Dean in slurred words responded, "He always leaves."

Sam patted Dean's shoulder gently and stood up. "I'll wake you up when I have some news, Dean."

Dean was back asleep before Sam made it to the door.

\------

When Sam returned to Astrid, she was still on the laptop. She looked up, "How's he doing?"

"I'm worried that his injury is becoming infected. It's a little red, so gave him antibiotics and a fever reducer. You find anything else."

Astrid stood up and stretched, "No. I'll keep looking. Should I make something for lunch?"

"I'll bring something back, Astrid. I'll run to the grocery store, so we have real food. Can you keep an ear out for Dean while I'm gone? I'm hoping he'll stay asleep."

"I can handle him."

Sam smiled at her fondly, "I bet you can." He kissed her forehead.

Astrid smiled widely at him, "I'll keep looking!"

Sam walked towards the exit. He paused to look over his shoulder once more, Astrid was staring intently at the laptop again. He had confidence that she'd find Castiel.


	9. How Many More Times

On the way to the grocery store, Sam called the vet tech that was taking care of Gabe. He arranged to pick Gabe up after getting the groceries.

Sam hurried through the grocery shopping and picked up Chinese takeout. He then drove to the vet tech's house. As he walked up to the front door, he could hear Gabe barking. He knocked on the door, and a slim, petite blonde answered the door. Gabe nosed passed her and jumped up, putting his paws on Sam's stomach. 

Sam scratched him behind the ears. He smiled at the vet tech, "Thanks, Gwen, for taking care of him."

She laughed, "He started barking the moment he heard the car turning on the street. He knows the sound of your car. He's such a big, goofy boy."

"He's our spoiled fur baby," Sam smiled. "How much do I owe you?"

She grinned at Sam, "I should pay you for letting me borrow him. You know I'm always happy to watch him instead of you having to board him. Just ask! I'm not taking your money."

"Thanks, Gwen."

"Tell Cas and Dean hi for me. And I want their dog!"

Sam smiled at her, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. He snapped Gabe's lead on and took him to the car. He made Gabe sit in the front seat so he wouldn't mess with the food in the back seat. As soon as Sam got behind the driver's door, Gabe started licking his face. Sam hugged the dog for several minutes.

"We need you, boy. You need to cheer up Dean. Cas is gone for a while, but we'll find him." Gabe barked once, laid down, and looked at Sam patiently.

Sam gave a short laugh, started the car, and headed towards the bunker.

After arriving at the bunker, Sam let Gabe off his lead. Gabe raced down the hall to Dean's bedroom. Sam stopped short of the bedroom door to listen. 

"Ow, Gabe, be careful." Sam could hear Gabe clambering onto the bed. Gabe gave a sharp bark.

Dean rumbled, "Yeah, I missed you too, buddy." Gabe whined a little. "I don't know where he is, bud. He'll come back though. He always comes back. He has too." Dean's voice hitched as he said the final words. Sam could hear a muffled sob, and realized that Dean was crying quietly in Gabe's fur. 

Sam breathed in a deep sigh of relief. He hoped Gabe would pull Dean back together some while they continued the search for Castiel. He walked to the library where Astrid was still absorbed in her laptop. She would type furiously and then wait for the computer to respond, and repeat that pattern. Sam leaned over Astrid and kissed her cheek, " Anything?"

"Not yet, Sam. I've been scouring the police databases in North and South Dakota and no reports that match Cas." Astrid looked at him thoughtfully, "Is it possible that he could have been blasted outside of the U.S.?"

"Usually, he doesn't go that far, but once he was blasted onto a fishing boat and it took him a while to get hold of us. That was a different sigil that time too, and Cas had carved it into his own chest." 

"Oh, I remember that story from the books. Cas did it to help you guys to try to save Adam."

Sam nodded, still disconcerted because he knew she had read the bulk of the Supernatural books. 

"I got to go get the groceries from the car."

Astrid stood up, "I'll help you."

The two of them brought the groceries in and put them away, after throwing away everything that currently resided in the refrigerator. When they finished, Sam laid out the Chinese takeout on the kitchen table and went to retrieve Dean. As he turned the corner into Dean's room, he saw Dean pulling on clean clothes. "Gotta take Gabe for a walk," Dean mumbled.

Sam touched Dean's forehead and was relieved that it was cooler. "I'll take him in a bit, Dean. Come eat."

"Not hungry."

Sam looked at Dean bitchily. "Eat."

Dean sighed and followed Sam. Gabe got up for his spot on the bed and followed him.

While they ate, Sam brought Dean up to date on everything Astrid had found so far. Dean stared at Astrid for several long seconds. "Thank you for looking for him. He means so…" His voice trailed off.

Astrid smiled gently, "Don't thank me until I find him. You two inspire me with how much you care for each other. You don't often see that much connection between people."

"We've been through a lot in our 16 years together. To hell and back, literally. I'm sorry if we come across as dicks sometimes. We just find it easier not to let people close, because invariably, something happens."

Sam stood up. "I'm going to take Gabe for a quick walk."

Astrid said quietly to Dean, "I've kept people at a distance for a long time. When I was in the Marines, most of my unit was killed in a helicopter accident. I pushed everyone away and decided I had a mission, a cause, to show everyone the truth of what was going on in the war zones. I finally let my fiancé close, because he was so damn persistent. It's my fault Steven died. We were reporting from a dangerous area. He kept wanting to leave. He thought it was too risky, but I kept wanting to push into the area harder. I wanted to let the world know what was going on and that singular purpose made me lose track of what was important. Then, he was gone and it was all my fault. As soon as I could start working again, I've been running nonstop from story to story, trying to make a difference, trying to atone I guess for getting Steven killed. Pulling seventy-hour work weeks, investigating freelance, so that I wouldn't have to let anyone close."

"Well, you are close to Sam now. Don't break his heart. He's been through enough." Dean sighed and moved uncomfortably in his chair. "He lost Jess, the first girl he ever loved because demons killed her. He had to kill another girl he cared about because she became a werewolf. He got burnt by Ruby. I don't think he loved her, but she used him bad. Tricked Sam to let Lucifer escape the first time. Then, he fell for this vet lady and was out of the life, but I selfishly pulled him back in. And then Eileen was killed by British Men of Letters using a hellhound. His heart has been shredded so many times. I've had Cas for a long time and we might not be perfect, but we're perfect for each other. I want that for Sam. If you don't think that is what you are looking for, something like what I have with Cas, don't lead Sam on."

The bunker door opened and they could here Sam returning.

Astrid said quietly, "He's the first person I've let in since Steven. I'm not playing a game."

"Enough said. Now, can we look for my angel some more? I need him back."

"I'm going to go run some searches in the Canadian press, see if there's any way he got that far north." Astrid stood up, as Sam entered the room. Gabe ran back to Dean, and put his head on Dean's knee.

Dean played with Gabe's ears absently. Dean looked up at Sam, "I think she might be a keeper, Sam."

"Just met her, Dean," Sam protested.

"I was drawn to Cas the first day I met him. It took me a long time to admit, but deep down I knew."

"My record with women isn't stellar," Sam said dryly.

"Well, sometimes, you just have to grab life by the horns. I waited with Cas until it was almost too late. If you get a chance for something good, Sam, you should go for it." Dean looked up at Sam, "He's going to be okay, right?"

Sam put his hand on Dean's shoulder. "He came back from fighting Lucifer and Raphael. Do you think a couple of vampires are going to bring him down?"


	10. Revival

After several hours of fruitless searching the night before, both Astrid and Sam went to their respective bedrooms to get a few hours of sleep. 

Sam was awoken by his door being suddenly flung open. He pulled his gun out from under his pillow and pointed it at the door. He gasped as he realized it was Astrid and lowered the gun.

Astrid stared at the gun and at Sam, who was shirtless. She licked her lips nervously, "Next time, I'll knock quietly."

"I'm sorry, Astrid."

"No, that was all me. I think I found Cas."

Sam jumped out of bed so fast, that his feet got tangled in his blankets and he almost fell face first onto the ground. Astrid managed to grab him and keep him upright before he fell. Sam was leaning on her and time stood still for a moment. He stared down at her, and her eyes met his. He pulled her closer and kissed her passionately. Astrid's eyes went wide and then responded heatedly. Sam put his hands on her back under her t-shirt, continuing the kiss.

A throat cleared at the door. Sam stepped back from Astrid, blushing slightly.

Dean asked, "Did I hear Astrid say she found Cas?"

Astrid gave a quick shake of her head as if to regain her bearings. "Yes, a man was found outside of Winnipeg unconscious with several gunshot wounds. He's in a coma but is stable. From the description, it sounds like Cas."

"I'll call the hospital and see if I can get them to send a picture." Sam walked quickly out of the room.

Dean smiled at Astrid, "Sorry to interrupt. Just want my angel."

"I'm sorry I got distracted for a moment." Astrid replied.

Dean winked at her, "Happens to the best of us."

Astrid and Dean walked into the kitchen, where Sam was on the phone with the Winnipeg authorities. He was using his Henley alias again, convincing the hospital staff to send him a picture of the mystery man. After a few minutes, Sam hung up and checked email on his phone. He grinned as held up the phone to Dean and Astrid, "Bingo."

Dean felt both worried and relieved as he stared at the picture of Castiel in a hospital bed. He knew logically that Castiel was probably in a semi-conscious state, regaining grace. However, how pale, and frail Castiel looked rocked him to the core. 

"I'll pack the Impala, Dean." Sam started to walk away.

"Stop, Sam." Astrid said. She looked between Sam and Dean. "The Impala is how I first traced you two. All I had was your first names and the make of your car, but the car was unique enough for me to track you down. With the vampires after us, you might want to leave the car and take another vehicle."

Dean stared at her like she suddenly had sprouted a second head.

Sam started, "Dean only likes…"

Dean stopped him, "No, it makes sense. We'll go lift a car."

Astrid frowned. "We'll go buy a car. Rather, I'll buy one."

"But…"

"Look guys, I'm willing to go kill vampires. I'm willing to believe in the supernatural. I'm not above breaking a few dozen laws for the greater good. I'm, however, not willing to commit grand theft auto every time we need another ride. I have plenty of money. We can go pick up a nice comfortable SUV to drive Cas back in. It will be better for him than having to sit up in the back of the Impala."

Dean begrudgingly nodded. "Sam, you take her to go get a car. I'll call Jody, Claire, and Garth to tell them we found him."

\-----

Sam and Astrid returned to the bunker a few hours later. Dean had filled shallow foot lockers with the weapons and gear they would need. He moved very slowly and painfully. It was obvious that he had overexerted himself.

Sam frowned at him. "Dean, maybe you should stay behind. We can get Cas and come back…"

"No."

"Okay then, we'll drop Gabe off at the vet tech…"

"No, he's coming."

Sam gave up and loaded the back of the new black Ford Durango. He put a rug over the crates of weapons and then moved a dog kennel on top of it. He knew Gabe would never go into the kennel willingly, but it provided camouflage for the weapons lockers. 

After they finished packing the SUV, they climbed into it and headed towards Winnipeg.

\-----

When they arrived at the hospital, Dean put a service animal vest on Gabe and followed Sam and Astrid into the hospital. They had doctored paperwork previously to identify Gabe as a service animal to help Dean cope with PTSD. It wasn't too far from the truth.

Sam approached the nurse's desk, "I'm Agent Henley. I've been looking for Cas Winchester since he was abducted three days ago. This is his husband, Dean." Sam placed several pictures of Dean and Castiel on the counter for the nurse to see. "We believe he is the John Doe you found a couple of days ago."

The nurse, Julia, looked at Sam's FBI badge and the pictures. She turned to Dean, "Can I see your ID?"

Dean pulled out his driver's license. Julia nodded and led them to a room. "He's been fading in and out of unconsciousness. You can go in and sit with him, and I'll have Dr. Reynolds come back to talk to you. The police also asked us to call them if anyone claimed him."

Julia opened the door. Dean stepped in. He stared at Castiel. Bandages covered his right arm and hand. He had a flashback to the car accident they had been in several years earlier. Gabe whined and tugged on his leash. Dean relaxed his grip on it, and Gabe scrambled to the bed and put his head on Castiel's leg.

Dean pulled a chair over and sat next to Castiel and put his hand on Castiel's left hand. Sam watched both the dog and the man waiting patiently by Castiel's bedside. An older, white-haired male doctor came to the room a few minutes later. "Hello, Mr. Winchester?"

Dean nodded. "Cas is my husband."

The doctor gave him a very grandfatherly look. "Your husband is doing quite well actually. He was shot six times and electrocuted. We've removed the bullets from him and stopped the internal bleeding. The electrical burns are healing more slowly. He's pretty heavily medicated because of the pain."

"Is he going to be okay?"

The doctor nodded. "He's a fighter, son. It seemed to be touch and go for a while, but he's been steading improving since then. Give him enough time, and I believe he will be fine except for some scarring on his hand and arm. We might consider some cosmetic surgery to help him with that."

Dean sighed in relief. "Thank you, doc."

The doctor looked at Gabe curiously. "If you need anyone to talk to, son, just let me know. Sometimes, it is as hard on the family as it is on the patient."

"Now, that I know he's going to be fine, I'm good."

Dean relaxed. A few minutes later Castiel's eyes flickered open. He stared at Dean. Dean stood up and reached over to kiss Castiel's forehead. Castiel said hoarsely, "Hello, Dean."

Dean answered, "I love you."

Castiel gave a small smile, "I know."

Gabe barked softly.

Castiel looked the dog fondly. "Love you too, Gabe." Castiel closed his eyes again.

Dean relaxed in the chair next to him. He felt like he could finally breathe for the first time since the vampire fight.

\-----

Sam handled most of the local policeman's question. He had him call Jody to confirm the story that Castiel had been kidnapped and they didn't know who had motive or reason. That no demands had been made.

Sam found Astrid in the waiting room. He walked over to her, “How are you holding up?"

"Relieved. How is he doing?"

"The good thing about Cas is he's durable. As long as he isn't killed outright, he'll get better. Angels are tough. It might take a few days for him to get to 100%. But he'll bounce back. Thank you for finding him. As you could see, Dean goes downhill fast, when Cas is missing. Cas got killed by Lucifer once, and it almost took Dean with him."

Astrid’s eyes went wide. "Lucifer? I read the books, but it was really Lucifer?"

Sam looked away for a moment. "Yeah. Dean and I had a few run-ins with him. If you read the books, you know I let Lucifer possess me once and I jumped in the cage with him. Then, when we let the Darkness out, Cas let Lucifer out to help us contain her. He and God worked together. But God left us with Lucifer on the loose. When we tried to trap him again, Lucifer stabbed Cas in the back, Cas wound up in a place called the Empty, but he annoyed the omnipotent being there until he sent him back to us."

"I can't imagine living through everything you have."

"We saved the world, but we have caused a lot of damage, Astrid. We've caused the death of a lot of innocent people. We hope we have balanced the scales, but Cas, Dean, and I have made many bad decisions. We aren't heroes. We are just three guys who got stuck in a thankless job that most of the world can never know about."

Astrid put her hand on the side of his face. "All any of us can do is our best. My stint in the Marines caused me to have blood on my hands, but I have to think what I was doing was right."

"Sometimes, the bad guys are bigger than the vampires. But they are all at the base the same bottom dwellers we've hunted all of our lives." Sam held a hand out to Astrid, "Let's go check on Dean and Cas."

Sam and Astrid went down the hall to Castiel's room. He opened the door quietly. Dean was asleep in the chair with his hand holding Castiel's. Gabe was lying at Dean's feet. He wagged his tail as Sam and Astrid entered the room. 

Castiel's eyes flickered open. He smiled softly at the two of them. Sam walked to the other side of the bed and squeezed Castiel's shoulder. 

Castiel said quietly, "Hello, Sam."

Sam gave him a relieved smile. "Astrid found you for us, Cas."

Castiel smiled gently at Astrid. "Thank you."

Dean woke up with a start. 

"Just us, Dean. I'm going to go check into a hotel. I'll take Gabe. I'm assuming you'll stay here." 

Dean nodded. "Not letting Cas out of my sight for a while. "

Sam nodded. He walked over and leaned down to give Dean a hug. "I'll text you when I find a hotel."

Sam turned to say goodbye to Castiel, but he had already drifted back into unconsciousness. 

Dean whispered, "As soon as he can stay awake for more than an hour and pain is manageable, we'll spring him. But, I think we'll be here for a few days. He's a mess still."

Sam nodded and picked up Gabe's lead and headed out of the room. Astrid hugged Dean briefly and followed him.

\-----

Sam found a nicer hotel that allowed pets a few blocks from the hospital. Astrid headed for the room with their duffle bags as Sam walked Gabe. 

When Sam got to the room, the sound of the shower was running. Sam sat on the edge of the bed and looked down, resting his chin on his hands. For the first time since Castiel had been blasted away, he tried to relax. 

Gabe rested his head on Sam's knee. "We got him back again, boy." Gabe licked Sam's face. 

Astrid came out of the bathroom dressed only in an oversized green t-shirt, her hair in a long braid. "You okay, Sam?"

"Yeah, just decompressing."

Astrid sat cross-legged on the bed behind him, starting to massage his shoulders. "You are one giant knot, Sam." 

"Feels good." Sam relaxed into her hands. 

"It would work better without the shirt."

Sam hesitated and then shrugged out of his flannel outer shirt. He then pulled the t-shirt over his headed. Astrid kneeled and started massaging his shoulders more earnestly. She peppered kisses across his back.

Sam moaned slightly. Astrid crawled around him and straddled his lap. She pressed again against his front as her hands still explored his back. Sam started kissing her. He picked up the hem of her shirt and looked at her questioningly. She smiled and nodded, and Sam pulled the shirt over her head. Sam stroked her back.

Astrid pushed him back on the bed and started to unbuckle his belt. Sam rolled her over and kicked off his pants. Hands touched everywhere, as Astrid and Sam explored each other's bodies. Their body's fit together perfectly as they found a perfect rhythm in movement. Finally, as they both were sated, the movement slowed and stopped. Sam held Astrid tightly against him. 

After a few moments, Sam asked quietly, "Was that ok? It's been a while."

Astrid groaned, "That wasn't ok. That was fabulous."


	11. Love Hurts

Over the course of the next few days, Castiel started being able to stay awake longer and longer. Castiel was appreciative of Astrid being able to the be the one to find him and warmed up to her considerably. She told him about her life and childhood, while he listened intently. In return, he told her more about angels and how he came to be with the Winchesters. A warm bond started to develop between the two of them. Once Castiel started to trust someone, he did it wholeheartedly. 

When the doctor deemed Castiel well enough to be released, Sam and Dean assured the doctor that they would take Castiel to see a specialist about his hand as soon as they arrived back in Kansas.

Dean had refused to leave Castiel's bedside for more than a few minutes the entire time, and he was exhausted. To avoid questions, Sam had been changing the dressing on Dean's arm and back out in the SUV. Both were healing, but not as fast as Sam would have liked. Sam could not convince Dean to lie down and rest at all.

As they left the hospital, Castiel's grace was still practically nonexistent. However, he was improving faster than a normal human would. Sam helped Castiel lay down in the back seat of the SUV, while Dean and Gabe rode in the center seat. 

Sam decided to go no more than 300 miles a day, so it would take two and a half days to get home. He drove at a leisurely pace towards Fargo, North Dakota. They stopped often so that Castiel could change positions in the vehicle, and for Sam or Dean to check Castiel's bandages. As they approached Fargo, Sam noticed a red car seemed to be following them, going the same speed but keeping about a half a mile behind them. Other cars would pass the car, but if Sam slowed down, the car slowed down. When Sam sped up, so did the car.

"Dean, Astrid, keep an eye on that red car behind us," Sam asked.

Dean pulled out his gun and had it ready. Castiel tensed up in the back seat. Sam got off the highway to enter Fargo and the red car followed. When Sam turned onto a city street, the red car continued to follow them. Sam pulled into the parking lot of a hotel, and the car went past them. Dean looked uneasy. "That couldn't have been a coincidence."

Sam restarted the car and drove to a different motel. He parked and got a single room for all of them. He led the others to a room with two double beds. "I don't want us to split up tonight. Something just seems off still."

Sam ordered some pizzas over the phone. Dean held a gun under the table towards the door, when the delivery man arrived with the pizzas. After the delivery man handed Sam the pizzas and left, Dean started to relax.

Dean frowned at Sam, "We're just spooked maybe."

Astrid shook her head, "In my experience when you think something weird is happening, it's because something weird IS happening."

Sam made Dean and Castiel go to sleep after checking their injuries. Sam told Astrid she should sleep as well. 

Astrid said, "You need sleep, Sam. You're going to do most the driving again tomorrow."

Sam looked at her. "You sleep until two, and we'll take shifts."

Astrid napped, while Sam stared at the door with his gun drawn and a machete nearby. He swapped out with Astrid in the early morning hours. Gabe slept restfully in front of the door.

The next morning, Sam and Dean carefully checked the SUV and didn't see anything amiss with it. Sam shrugged, "I guess we were just overreacting."

Dean looked grumpy, "No, that car was definitely following us."

After grabbing a quick breakfast from a drive-through, Sam drove south in the direction of Sioux Falls. He decided they could spend the night with Jody instead of a motel. Jody never minded them dropping by. 

Thirty minutes south of Fargo, a semi came whipping past them on the isolated highway. It suddenly swerved into the lane that Sam was in. Sam drove onto the shoulder and off the road to avoid being hit. Castiel was thrown across the seat, while Gabe flew forward and hit the seat in front of him.

Dean turned around to help Castiel, but Sam called, "Dean, look at the truck."

Dean saw a group of four people get out of the truck and head towards the SUV. Sam couldn't pull the SUV forward because of the guardrail and the truck was blocking him from backing up easily.

Sam rolled the window down, while Dean and Astrid got out on the passenger side. Sam called to the group, "Hey, we're fine. If you could just move your truck, we'll be on our way."

The group's demeanor looked combative as they continued to approach the SUV. Sam climbed out of the SUV with a machete in his hand. As one of the group approached Sam, Dean started unloading the clip of his gun into the man. The man bared vampire fangs in a growl. Two others started to run towards Dean, and he pulled out his machete. Sam braced himself against the car with his machete in front of him. 

Gabe jumped out of the truck and grabbed the arm of one of the vampires heading towards Dean. Astrid ran towards the one that Gabe was struggling with and managed to take it down with a machete. Dean ran towards the other vampire and engaged him. The vampire sliced Dean's cheek, but Dean was able to get the leverage needed to decapitate him.

Castiel started to climb out of the SUV with his back to the exterior of the vehicle. Astrid could see one of the two remaining vampires turning to take aim at Castiel. Astrid gasped as realized the vampire had a clear and easy shot to take Castiel down. As the vampire pulled the trigger, Astrid screamed "No," and threw herself between Castiel and the vampire. She felt the bullet tear into her chest.

Sam watched in horror as a red stain blossomed on Astrid's chest. Dean pulled out his gun and shot the vampire in his shoulder repeatedly. Sam ran towards the vampire with a machete. Castiel ran to Astrid and was about to heal her when another vampire finished a banishing sigil on the side of the truck. Castiel vanished in a bright glow of light. 

Sam reached the vampire and decapitated him. Dean turned to the vampire who had created the sigil and headed toward her. She turned and ran back to the semi. Dean started to chase her but stopped when Sam frantically yelled his name. The semi roared off.

Sam held Astrid in his lap, using his flannel shirt to staunch the flow of her blood. Dean rushed back and picked her up, while Sam continued to apply pressure. They ran to the SUV as fast as they could. Sam crawled into the back seat and Dean passed Astrid into the vehicle to him. Gabe scrambled into the seat. Dean got behind the wheel and used the onboard navigation to find the nearest hospital.


	12. For Your Own Good

Dean drove the SUV as fast as he could, roaring to a stop outside the ER doors. Sam exited the vehicle and carried Astrid into the hospital. Dean ran ahead flagged down a nurse. A gurney was brought out and the nurse and orderlies took into a room, leaving Sam and Dean in the waiting room. Sam looked at the doorway they had taken Astrid with his face raw with emotion.

Dean muttered, “Everything would have been okay if they hadn’t blasted Castiel away.”

Sam just looked at Dean, his face pale and hands were shaking. Astrid’s blood painted the front of his t-shirt. “I’m going to lose her, Dean. It’s like Eileen all over again.”

“No, Sam. She had us with her to get her help. Astrid has survived a lot, she’s a tough woman.”

Dean’s phone rang. Dean pulled the phone out and saw it was Castiel. He answered, “Where and how are you, Cas?”

“Outside of Oklahoma City. I’m fine, just really shaky. Where are you?”

“Saint Paul’s hospital outside of Fargo.”

“Is Astrid hurt badly?” Castiel’s voice was ragged with concern.

“Dunno, Cas. Please hurry.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can be.”

As Dean hung up the phone, Sam asked anxiously, “How soon can he be here?”

“Fifteen-hour drive, Sammy. It will be okay.”

The nurse walked out to the Winchesters. “Your friend is in surgery. The bullet lodged into her left lung. We’ve contacted her family. Her parents should be here in a few hours.”

Dean left for a few minutes to park the SUV properly and to ensure Gabe was comfortable.

After he returned to the Sam, the wait in the ER seemed interminable. Dean kept his eyes locked on the entrance door. He knew there was no way Castiel could be close yet, but he still watched the door. Sam stared at the floor between his feet. He blamed himself for Astrid being in the condition she was in. He knew this would happen if he let he close, but he so desperately wanted a life with her that he ignored all the reservations he had.

The police had come and gone. Sam and Dean said the three of them were mugged in a park, and the attacker had shot them when he panicked. The police took their statements and asked to be called when Astrid was able to give a statement.

Dean whispered to Sam, "Don't blame yourself. She threw herself between the gun and Castiel to save him. This was her choice."

"My choice was to let her into our lives at all. I did that."

Dean scoffed at him, "Come on, Sam. That woman is a force of nature. Do you really think she wouldn't have kept up until she found out everything about us? She was like a dog with a bone."

"I could have discouraged her loving me. I could have kept my feelings in check," Sam continued to protest.

Dean gave a short laugh. "Remember your psycho fan girl, Becky, once said the heart wants what the heart wants. In a way, she was right. Did you ever think when we were young that I'd wind up with a male angel as my life partner?"

A loud voice caught both of their attention at the reception desk. "We demand to know where our daughter is. We were called by the hospital telling us she was here." A tall white-haired man in a suit was leaning over the reception desk. His face red with frustration. Dean could tell that the man was wealthy. His suit, shoes, watch, all of it, was from high-end retailers. Next to him, a petite brunette around the same age stood in a red designer dress in red high heels. 

"Sir, I tell the doctor you are here. The last report I got was she was in surgery."

The brunette put her hand on the man's arm. "Reginald, you know you aren't supposed to get too excited. Your heart."

Reginald looked at the brunette in disdain, "Helen, if you had hired a decent nanny who wouldn't put ideas in her head, she'd be safe and sound, married to Drew. Instead, she wanted a life of adventure." 

"She was rebellious from the moment she was born. You knew she was different from the others."

"Well, maybe this time will knock some sense in her head since getting blown up didn't."

Dean muttered under his breath, "No wonder she roamed to the ends of the earth."

Sam went still as he saw a doctor in scrubs come out of the double doors, "Mr. and Mrs. LeBeau?"

Reginald strode over to the doctor and stopped in his personal space, towering over the man. He was easily as tall as Sam.

"How is she?"

"She was shot, and the bullet lodged in her lung. The lung collapsed. However, we've been able to remove the bullet and she is stable. The prognosis is good. She's an extremely healthy, young woman."

Sam gave a huge sigh of relief next to Dean. Dean squeezed Sam’s arm and smiled.

Dean whispered, "Astrid is one tough badass and she saved my angel. I'll never be able to pay her back for that."

Sam whispered, "She is a badass. I know she's been estranged from her parents, so I don't know whether to introduce myself."

"If it were me, I'd sit here quietly. Once she regains consciousness, she'll ask for you. Until then, you don't have to deal with a pompous jackass."

Sam was frustrated about a half hour later when the LeBeaus went back to see their daughter. He knew that the hospital wouldn't let him go back since he wasn't related, but it still frustrated him. He would have to make a bogus ID if she ever needed hospitalization again.

The LeBeaus returned to the waiting room about thirty minutes later. The man was complaining that they made then leave so they could run more tests on Astrid.

Dean stood up and went to the cafeteria. He returned with two hot cups of coffee and a turkey sandwich. He bothered Sam trying to get him to eat half of the sandwich, but Sam refused. He continued to watch the double doors that stood between him and whatever room Astrid was in.

About twenty minutes, Castiel strode in. Castiel looked particularly rumpled in his trench coat over jeans and a t-shirt. His hair stood up every which way. He rushed to Sam and Dean and asked loudly, "How is Astrid?"

The LeBeaus heads snapped to face them. Dean was slumped low in his chair, while Sam was looking at the LeBeaus nervously.

Dean hissed, "She'll be ok, Cas, sit down."

Castiel looked at him curiously but complied without words.

"How'd you get here so fast, Cas?"

"I flew."

Dean looked at him in confusion. "Your wings?"

"…on a plane. I went to the airport in Oklahoma City and found a flight here. You can fly and not drive everywhere you know. Where's Gabe?"

"In the SUV. It's only in the 60s, so he should be fine. But now that you are here, I should go take him for a walk."

Reginald LeBeau stood up and walked over to Castiel. "How do you all know Astrid?"

Castiel looked at him with a tilted head. "She's a friend…and a work associate. And you are?"

"Her father."

Castiel blinked at him. "The one that was way too busy to spend time with her and attempted to browbeat her into going to college to get married instead of letting her live her own life."

Reginald's face turned red. Castiel stood up, looking at him fiercely. Castiel glare had turned many an opponent into a quivering mess, but Reginald was too angry.

"How dare you talk to me like that."

"How dare you treat your child as a commodity."

Dean put his hand on Castiel's arm. "Now, is not the time, Cas."

Castiel sat down but still glowered.

Reginald looked at them. "You two work associates too?"

Sam responded, "Yes, and her boyfriend, Sam Wesson." Sam stood up and offered his hand to Reginald. Reginald ignored him. 

Reginald said, "If you three are her associates, how come she got shot instead of one of you, bozos?"

Dean responded quickly so Castiel wouldn't contradict the story they had given the police officers, "We were in a park, and someone came at us with a gun and Astrid jumped in front of us. I would gladly have taken the bullet for her. She's just a badass hero."

Reginald snorted, "If she was so badass, she wouldn't be injured."

Castiel stood up again, his eyes glinting in blue. "She has saved my life more than once."

"Then you must particularly pathetic."

Dean sensing that Castiel was approaching the smiting level of angry put his hand on Castiel again. Castiel ignored him and said, "I can see why your daughter decided that living in a desert and getting shot at was preferable to putting up with you."

Dean tried again, "Angel, let it go. This is not the place." Dean rubbed his hand up and down Castiel's back.

"So that's how it is? That explains everything." Reginald sneered at them.

Dean balled his fists.

Sam's calm voice interrupted, "Guys, let it go. He's right. We should have protected her better. I apologize for my brother and brother-in-law's criticism. They care about Astrid a great deal and are protective towards her. They don't mean to be offensive. We are just all under a lot of stress." Sam glared at Castiel and Dean, willing them to be quiet.

A security officer came up to them. "I've had a call about some disturbance here. Is it all sorted out or do I need to escort one or more of you out.

Reginald, looking mollified by Sam's apology, answered, " I believe it has been sorted out."

Sam added, "We're fine, officer. My apologies for the disturbance. We have just been worried about our friend. Sit down, Dean and Cas."

A nurse came out of the double doors, "Is there a Sam Wesson here?"

Sam stood up and hurried to her. "She's conscious and asked to see you."

Sam followed the nurse up the corridor to a room. Astrid gave a faint smile when he entered the room. She said in a hoarse voice, "There's my boy."

Sam smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. " Hey, hon." He reached down and kissed her cheek.

"Cas and Dean?"

"Neither harmed, thanks to you. Your parents are here."

Astrid grimaced, "I'm so sorry you had to meet them."

"Cas gave your dad hell."

Astrid laughed a short, pained giggle. "I would have paid money to see that."

Sam picked up her hand and kissed it. "I love you." He met her eyes and he stared at her for a long time, committing her face to memory. 

Her face lit up, "I love you too, Sam. I guess we should let my parents in."

"I'll let them know."

Sam walked up the hall with determination. He told the nurse that Astrid had requested her parents. He then went to the waiting room where Castiel was still glowering at her father.

"Come on, guys. Let's go." Sam headed for the exit.

Dean ran to catch up to him. "Where are we going, Sam?"

"Gotta take Gabe to a hotel or somewhere." They walked to the SUV. Gabe was ecstatic to see them. He wagged his tail so hard, his entire body shook. Castiel took Gabe for a quick walk to some grass.

Dean looked at Sam. "It's been a tough couple of weeks. Too many hospital visits."

Sam nodded. When Castiel came back with Gabe, Sam suggested both Dean and Castiel sit in the back to make it up to Gabe for all the time he had been left alone.

Dean looked suspiciously at Sam but complied. Dean and Castiel sat next to each other with Gabe draped over both of them, wagging his tail happily. Sam merged on the highway and picked up speed.

After twenty minutes, Castiel observed, "We've passed by several hotels that would be acceptable, Sam. Shouldn’t we get a room close to the hospital?"

"We're not staying."

Dean protested, "We can't abandon her there."

"Her family is there. I know they aren't ideal, but they do love her, and she knows how to handle them."

Castiel persisted, "This isn't right. We need to go back."

Sam said harshly, "Dean, remember that time you told me if I ever mentioned Lisa and Ben you would punch me in the nose. I told you it was the sketchiest thing you had done. This is my moment. Just shut up, both of you. She needs a normal life, not two worn-out hunters and a busted-up angel."

Castiel opened his mouth to protest, but Dean squeezed his hand. Dean leaned near and said, "Give him space. The more we protest now, the more he'll dig his heels in."

Dean said more loudly, "Where are we going then?"

"To lay low at Rufus' cabin until the two of you heal up the rest of the way. Castiel is at partial grace, and I haven't cleaned the wound in your back for two days, Dean."

Castiel sighed. He put his head on Dean's shoulder and drifted off. 

Dean offered, "I'll take over for you when you get tired, Sam. I won't try to trick you into going back. I think you are making a mistake, but it's yours to make."

Sam looked at his brother in the rearview mirror. He knew Dean was sincere. Dean's face was ragged, and he looked exhausted. It had only been a week since Dean had been slashed on his back. Three days since they sprung Castiel from the hospital. Somehow, everyone but Sam had been injured in the last week. That did not give him a good feeling.

Sam stopped at a hotel an hour later. He checked Castiel and Dean there. He settled them down to sleep, He drove the SUV to a bus station on the outskirts of Minneapolis and bought three tickets for Lebanon, Kansas. He walked two miles to a business area. He hot-wired a plain black Toyota Corolla. He went to a Walmart and picked up three burner phones, junk food for Dean, and a couple of cans of dog food for Gabe. When he returned to the hotel, he swapped the phones they had been using with Astrid with the ones he bought. He removed the SIM cards and batteries from the old phones. He thought he had done enough to throw Astrid off their trail.

He watched as Dean and Castiel slept. Shortly before dawn, he woke the two of them up long enough to get them in the car. Before he started the car, he called Claire to ask her to retrieve Castiel's Firebird from the bunker and drive it to Bobby's place in Sioux Falls.

\-------  
Astrid talked reluctantly to her parents. She felt stifled by them like she usually did. However, she did appreciate that they had cared enough to come. She wasn't surprised that Sam, Dean, and Castiel hadn't met her father's approval. When her parents decided to leave because she was getting tired, she asked them to send Sam in for a minute.

Reginald responded, "They left before we came back here."

"Oh, I guess they had to take care of Gabe."

"There's another one?" Her father bristled.

"No, he's the dog."

Reginald shook his head again. "So, three rednecks and a dog help you research stories?"

Astrid couldn't help herself but giggle at the thought of Castiel being called a redneck. She immediately grimaced in pain.

After her parents left, she tried to call Sam. It went straight to voicemail.

She asked the nurse to check the waiting room, but there was no sign of them. The medications she was on made her sleepy. She again asked the nurse to check for them in the waiting room. When the nurse reported that they still weren’t there, Astrid had a sinking feeling.

She tried both Sam's and Dean's numbers and they went to voicemail. 

She knew they had left her behind.

\--------

Dean and Castiel didn't say much to Sam. Dean did drive part of the way to Bobby's, so Sam could take a catnap. Sam did not trust Castiel enough to drive, because he wasn't positive that Castiel wouldn't turn around and return to Fargo. Castiel was still drained from his injuries and being blasted away again.

When they finally arrived at Bobby's, Claire was already there with the Firebird.

She took one look at the three of them and tried to argue with Sam that they spend the night at Jody's. Sam declined. He hid the Toyota among the cars in the salvage yards and then removed and destroyed the plates. After getting in the Firebird, they drove the rest of the way to the cabin.

\--------

Astrid was in the hospital for two more days. She was distraught but hid it from her parents. She let them believe that her associates had continued to the next location, researching the story that they were working on. 

On the morning she was released from the hospital, she told her parents she was going home to California. Her parents made one final effort to convince her to go with them. However, they relented and headed back to their home in Maine.

Astrid found a hotel in Fargo and ordered a new laptop to be delivered to her. She searched for the Winchesters and her SUV. She discovered that her SUV was impounded at a bus station outside Minneapolis after being parked there for more than twenty-four hours. She arranged for someone to retrieve it for her. She determined that three tickets were purchased at the bus stop for Lebanon, Kansas. She thought that would be too easy, but she knew that had to be the first place to check.

That night, as she crawled into bed, she prayed to Castiel to come back.

\----

After the long drive to Whitefish, Montana, Sam, Dean, and Castiel settled in at the cabin. Sam didn't bother to look for cases. He really didn't want to know what the vampires were doing. He mostly followed Dean's former example of dealing with pain by drinking himself under the table.

Dean complained to Castiel about the mound of bottles they found around wherever Sam had been sleeping. 

Castiel laughed at Dean. "You did that to him for at least 20 years, assbutt."

"Just because I did it doesn't mean it should be done."

"Hypocrite."

"I never denied it, angel." Dean grinned cockily at Castiel. "I wish I could call Astrid. Let her know we're fine."

"Me too. Sam is making a mistake, but he will not listen."

Dean shrugged, "I get where he's coming from. With you, it's easy. Well, now it is. It was hard getting to this point. I know you are actually safer with me than you are on your own. The bunker is the safest place in the world for heaven's most renegade angel."

Castiel gave him a sour look. "You corrupted me the first time you touched me. Shame on you."

Dean encroached on Castiel's personal space and kissed him. "You enjoyed every minute of it."

"Hmmm…mmmh. Except for the Leviathan escapades, getting exploded by Lucifer, getting exploded by Raphael, getting stabbed by a reaper, getting stabbed by Lucifer, getting tortured by Amara…"

Dean shut him up by kissing him again with his hands roaming Castiel's back under his shirt. Castiel murmured, "I think you are corrupting me again."

Dean laughed, "Every chance I get, angel."

By day five in the cabin, Dean lost his patience with Sam and started looking for cases. He found indications of a nest of vampires in Springfield, Illinois. Several college-aged kids had found dead with neck injuries. Castiel's grace had mostly recovered, and he had been able to heal Dean's remaining injuries. 

Dean went into the basement of the cabin where Sam was holed up and took the beer bottle away from him. "Sam, it's time to get back to work."

Sam glared at him. "I had to put up with you for weeks, years even with you being depressed about Cas. I get at least a week."

"Well, we could do that and a couple more kids will die in Springfield."

Sam growled, "Why is it always us that has to do something?"

"We're the guys who saved the world, remember that? Uncle Ben said to Peter with great power comes great responsibility."

Sam snorted, "You always been a DC guy not a Marvel guy before. You're Batman."

Dean shrugged, "I'm easy. I'll go both ways."

Sam chuckled. "The story of your life."

Dean tugged Sam into an upright position. "Come on, get a move on, Sasquatch. We got college students that need saving."

Castiel insisted on driving the Firebird the first day. Dean kept urging him to drive faster, but Castiel would only drive about ten miles over the speed limit. The two of them started squabbling in the front seat. Sam let out a long-suffering sigh from the backseat with Gabe. Sam's legs never fit in the backseat of the Firebird right, so he was in a cranky mood. He grumbled, "Can't the two of you give it a rest? Let Dean drive, Cas."

Castiel pulled the car off the road and got out. "Fine. Get in the front seat." Castiel got in the back seat with Gabe. Dean got in the driver's seat and waited for Sam to move into the passenger seat. Dean turned on "Ramble On" by Led Zeppelin as he pulled the car onto the highway and started to sing loudly and off-key with it.

Sam reached over and snapped off the cassette player. Dean glared at him. "Driver picks the music…"

"Not in the mood, Dean."

"This is going to be a really long car trip if you don't stow your crap, Sam."

Sam glared at him. "Again, I put up with your crap…"

"I'm not a role model, Sam. Do something about what you are upset about or readjust your attitude."

Gabe whined at the tension in the car. Castiel interjected, "Sam, perhaps, you need to rethink your decision to abandon Astrid."

Sam growled, "We are not talking about Astrid and I didn't abandon her. Her family was with her."

"The family she voluntarily left because they didn't understand her. I know a little bit about leaving your family behind that doesn't understand you and finding a new family."

Sam snapped, "Do not compare your situation to Astrid's. She almost died."

Castiel growled, "I have died, Sam. Multiple times. I just got over almost dying again."

Dean yelled, "Shut up. Don't make me stop this car." He turned back on the cassette player and turned it on max volume. He glared at Sam, daring him to touch the cassette player. Sam sighed and pressed his face against the window. Sam could see Castiel still glaring at him with his arms crossed in the side mirror. Dean sighed. It really was going to be a long trip.

Sam and Dean took turns driving the Firebird, only stopping to eat, use the facilities, and walk Gabe. Castiel sat in the back brooding the entire time. When they reached Springfield, all of them were emotionally drained. 

They went to a rundown hotel, where Sam got his own room and took Gabe with him.

Dean and Castiel were finally alone. Dean looked at Castiel. "Dude, lay off Sam. He's a powder keg about to explode."

Castiel growled, "So am I. Did it occur to you, Dean, that Astrid got injured saving my life? This is yet another thing that is my fault. I did this. Sam is miserable, and Astrid has been praying to me. Did you know she could do that? Sam has his head so far stuck up his ass that he can't see the bigger picture. Her willingness to sacrifice herself is no different than you going to hell or Sam willing to do the trials. It's what we do."

"She's praying to you?" Dean looked surprised.

"I'm used to you praying to me. Sometimes, when you are in trouble, Sam prays to me. Once in a great while, Claire sends a thought or two my way. But Astrid is wondering what she did wrong. I'm feeling her pain. I'm seeing Sam's pain. It's ripping me in two. And you want me to lay off Sam?"

Castiel walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Dean sat on the bed, feeling defeated. He had no way to win in this scenario except to be quiet and not take sides. Both his brother and husband would be somewhat mad at him, but neither furious. He laid back on the bed looking at the ceiling, thinking how much easier it had been when he and Sam were in their twenties.

Three hours later, Dean woke up as Castiel came back into the room. Castiel undressed and got in the bed with Dean. Castiel held Dean close. "Dean, I'll try not to say anything else," he whispered. "I don't want to cause problems between you and Sam."

"I know, Cas. I'm sorry you're in the middle of all of this."

"What was it Bobby said about family once? Family is supposed to make you miserable. That's why they're family. " Castiel smiled in the dark. Dean held him close and drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Sam, Dean, and Castiel went to the police department to ask about the murders. The only connection between the victims that the police had found was the age. The ethnicity, gender, jobs, home location, and school status varied widely on them.

They would have to do more research on their own to figure it out. They stopped at a diner for lunch. They sat in a corner booth, where a short, curvy, redhead named Carol took their order. 

When Sam ordered his usual grilled chicken salad, she smiled and said, "Now I know while you're so well built. You probably go to the gym too. " She winked at him.

When she returned to the order, she handed Castiel and Dean their hamburgers with a smile. However, when she gave Sam his salad, she said, "If you see anything else you like in here, anything else at all, please let me know."

Sam smiled at her charmingly, "You'll be the first one I call." Castiel looked at Sam through narrowed eyes. Castiel shoved his hamburger in Dean's direction, almost knocking his soda over.

Dean blinked at Castiel. "Tell me how you really feel about that hamburger, Cas."

Castiel glared at Sam. "You will not use the patented old Dean Winchester method of dealing with pain by sleeping with the first waitress you see. That's not fair to Astrid."

Sam slid out of the booth. "Shut the hell up, Cas. You don't get any say it what I do and who I do it with." Sam stormed from the diner to the Firebird. Sam leaned against the car, running his fingers through his hair exasperatedly.

Dean followed him, "Truce." Dean put his hands up in the air. "I'll talk to Cas again and get him to back off. Astrid is praying to him, and he's really distressed about it, Sam."

"Thanks, Dean. I know he means well but I am done having her mix it up with vampires. She almost died."

Dean looked like he wanted to say something, but he shut his mouth. 

"Dean, you might as well say it before your head explodes."

"I lost years I could have been with Cas, because I was too stupid to see what I had for the longest time. Cas and I have only been really together for five of the last 16 years. I regret all those lost years that I could have had with him I didn't. All that time wasted."

Sam looked at him angrily, "But Cas has a fucking get out of jail free card when it comes to death. Oops, he's dead. Oops, no he's not for the hundredth time. You've got nothing to lose."

Castiel's voice grumbled from behind them, "But I do, Sam. Every fight we have I'm terrified I'll be too slow to get you or Dean. I live in a perpetual state of fear. But Dean's worth it. You are worth it. Astrid loves you, and you love her. And yes, things have been working out that I come back, but that might not be true the next time. In the Empty, I got saved, but Jack's gone, and Chuck left the building a long time ago. Humans only have a set number of years, don't fucking waste them." Castiel moved towards him, while talking and stood directly in front of Sam, looking belligerent.

Dean muttered, "Now, ain't that a sexy moment."

Both Castiel and Sam turned to look at Dean. Both asked "What?" in unison.

"Mad, smity Cas is super, sexy hot Cas. Just saying. Cas, it's Sam's life to fuck up the way he wants. Sam, you are fucking your life up. Now, both of you take a knee, say you love each other, and hug it out. Or, you could just stop fighting and shut the hell up." 

Dean climbed into the driver's seat of the Firebird and held out his hands for the keys. Castiel sighed and dropped them into his outreached palm. Dean started the car and looked out the window at them. "Now, maybe neither of you want to remember the dog you begged for is hungry back at the motel, but I want to avoid Gabe jumping through a window like he did when we got back too late for his liking in Atlanta on the wraith hunt. So, shut your cake holes and get in."

Sam and Castiel got into the car, and Dean drove them back in the motel. 

At the hotel, Dean said, "Cas, why don't you go take care of Gabe. I think it's time for me and Sam to get a little quality bro time in."

Castiel rolled his eyes. "Ok. You two have a good time. " Sam let Castiel out, and Castiel headed to the hotel room. Dean waited until he saw Castiel go into the room and close the door before driving off.

"We don't need to do this, Dean. I'll be fine as soon as you and Cas leave me the hell alone."

"Maybe, I want to do this. We haven't spent time alone together in months."

Sam sighed and settled back into the seat frowning.


	13. On the Road Again

Astrid spent a few more days in a hotel room recovering and waiting for her SUV to arrive. She had gone from being really angry at Sam to realizing that he was just scared of her dying. She was used to risking her life. She'd done it in the Marines, as a war reporter, and even when she talked to the seedy underbelly of southern California while doing the expose on human trafficking. She saw little difference between this job and the other ones. She had made a calculated risk by intercepting the bullet. She knew the vampire had an easy shot at Castiel. Castiel would have had a strong probability of getting killed. She had a better chance of not getting killed. Saving Castiel had been worth the risk for her.

She knew Sam was uncomfortable about her getting into the life. She wasn't going to give up on him easily. She had always felt anything worth having was worth really fighting for. She was determined to make sure that Sam didn't remove her from his life. She spent her down time ordering what she considered hunting supplies, as well as a bulletproof vest. Although she was willing to take a bullet once for Castiel, she wanted to avoid it a second time.

After Astrid was reunited with her SUV, she returned to the bunker to try to find Sam. She couldn't figure out how to get in. She set up a camera in a tree to watch the doorway, while she returned to the small motel in Lebanon.

She set up her laptop to record the camera feed and went to the diner. She selected a booth in the corner. A middle-aged waitress with the name tag, Mildred, came to take her order. 

Astrid smiled at her warmly, "Hello, Mildred, may I have a cheeseburger and a coke, please."

"Sure enough, sweetie."

Mildred left and came back with the soda. "What brings you to our little neck of the woods?"

"I'm looking for some friends of mine. A really tall guy, his brother, and a guy who is always in a trench coat."

"Oh, you mean Dean, Cas, and Sam. They come in every so often. Cas and Dean are just the cutest couple. I saw them a few weeks ago. They stopped in for lunch and then took off again. I'm not supposed to really let him in, but they have the best-behaved dog that comes in. Just sits by Cas feet, pretty as can be."

"Oh, it sounds like I missed them. Can you tell me if they were in Dean's monster of a car? I love that car."

"No, they were in Cas' car. It's really pretty. It's a Thunderbird or something like that. Oops, your order is up." Mildred ambled off to get her hamburger. 

Astrid silently cursed herself for never looking under the cloth cover of the car parked next to the Impala. She knew it was Castiel's, but she had had her hands full of other things when she was at the bunker. She had no clue what Castiel's car looked like.

She finished her cheeseburger and walked back to the motel. She fast forwarded through the footage that she recorded from the bunker so far. She sat looking broodingly at the computer. She could either dig around here like a lovesick teenager, or she could get on with her life.

Astrid was never really the patient type. She slept in the motel. The next morning, she watched through the footage once again. No one had returned to the bunker. The best place to find them would be to look for the source of the action, on some case. She started searching for cases. She didn't find anything that sounded like a vampire case, but she did find that several kids had gone missing in outside Minneapolis. One had gotten away from what he described was a giant with an ax when he was taking a short cut through an old orchard.

She gathered her belongings and headed to Minnesota to investigate.

After she arrived in Minneapolis, Astrid called the mother of the child who had escaped and asked if she could talk to her. She told her she was an investigative reporter that was looking into the missing children. The woman, Anne Mitchell, agreed.

When Astrid arrived at the Mitchell's small house, she knocked on the front door. When Anne answered the door, Astrid held out her hand, "I'm Astrid LeBeau."

Anne, a small woman with brown hair, shook her hand and invited her in. She escorted Astrid into the living room and sat on the couch with her.

"You're the second person who has come to see me today. Another FBI agent just left. We talked to two others on Monday."

"Did you happened to get the name of the FBI agent? Could be the same one I've been talking too."

"Roberta Seger."

Astrid sighed inwardly. She had hoped it might have been Sam or Dean. "Can you tell me what your son said?"

"Billy and his friend, Frankie, decided to cut through the orchard to go down to the river to fish. Kids around here do that, they fish a lot. Part of the appeal of small-town living. About halfway through the orchard near the remains of the old farmhouse, a large man came out and started swinging an axe at them. Well, Bill, he's a sprinter. Won state in the junior category last year. He was able to out run the man, but Frankie didn't. Billy is blaming himself because he ran away. He's having nightmares every night since. We are thinking about moving. The police went out to look, but they couldn't find anything."

Astrid replied sympathetically, "That must be hard on him. It's called survivor's guilt. When I was reporting overseas, I lost my fiancé who was traveling with me in an IED explosion. I had to go through therapy for a long time before I could accept that there was nothing I could have done. Would you like me to talk to him? Share my experiences with him?"

Anne nodded and escorted Astrid to Billy's room. Astrid walked in to see the boy staring out the window.

"Hi, Billy. My name is Astrid."

"Are you with the FBI too? I don't want to talk anymore." Billy sighed sadly.

Astrid sat on the floor in front of him. "No, I'm just someone in the same boat as you. I lost my best friend in an attack. It's hard."

Billy stared at her. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have run."

Astrid shook her head sadly. "If you hadn't run, you'd be gone too. Your mother would be devastated. I felt the same way with my best friend, Steven. If I had just done something differently, he would still be alive. In the end, I realized that there really was nothing I could have done differently. I'll miss Steven forever. It's hard I know. I've been there."

"Does it ever hurt less?"

"Not really. It just hurts less often. When Steven was first killed, I cried multiple times a day. A year later, I would just cry when I saw something that reminded of him. Now, I just cry once in a while when I realize how much he would want to experience whatever it is I'm doing that day. It still hurts, but I know Steven would want me to go on living. He was my best friend. He wouldn't want me to be sad."

Billy sniffled. Astrid ruffled his hair gently.

"Billy, can I just ask two questions?"

He nodded slowly.

"Was it cold in the orchard when you were attacked? Colder than before?"

"It was. There was like steam coming out of me and Frankie's mouth."

"Where did you see the man with the ax?" Astrid asked gently.

"Near the old farmhouse. It's all ruins now."

Astrid stood up. "Billy, it will get easier one day, I promise. Don't try to let anyone tell you not to grieve though. You should take as long as you need too. Just remember, if Frankie was your friend, he'd want you to be happy."

Billy nodded and hugged her. Astrid took out a card and handed it to Billy. "If you ever want to talk to someone about it, please feel free to call me. I've been there. I'll understand."

Astrid left Billy's house and went to investigate the orchard. There was somewhat a trail through the woods. She kept getting the feeling someone was watching her as she crossed under the gnarled branches of the old trees. She had her duffle bag with a shotgun full of rock salt on her back, a tire iron in her hand, and her gun shoved into the back of her pants. She went behind a tree and crouched down, but didn't see anyone come up the trail. She muttered, "Must just be my imagination."

She walked until she found the old farmhouse. The grass was trampled down, but there was no other sign that anything had happened. She pulled out the EMF detector she had picked up. The EMF detector went off the scale. A ghost was close.

She walked around the old farmhouse. She pulled a collapsible shovel out of her duffle bag and dug where it looked like the cellar might be. Suddenly, she felt a cold draft.

She turned around and the ax man was facing her. She grabbed for the tire iron and swung. The ghost disappeared for a moment. She scrambled to pull the shotgun out of the bag. The ghost reappeared and flung her away from the bag. Astrid watched in fascination as the ghost approached. A shot rang out, and the ghost disappeared.

A blonde woman in green utility jacket, jeans, and boots stood there with a shotgun in her hands. She yelled at Astrid, "Run."

Astrid took off running with the woman on her heels. Astrid didn't stop until they reached for the edge of the forest.

"Just what the hell were you trying to do?" The blonde woman asked.

"I was, umm…investigating a ghost. Which I guess you were doing too since you had a shotgun with rock salt." 

The woman demanded, "And what were you going to do when you found the ghost?" 

"I was looking for a grave, so I could salt and burn it."

The woman sighed. "Usually, graves are in grave yards. His name is Abner Jenkins. He's buried in Parklawn Cemetery. I'm waiting until dark to go take care of his body, but I was looking to see if there was any chance the kids were still alive. "

"Oh. My name is Astrid. Astrid LeBeau."

The woman's eyes narrowed. "I'm Mary. Mary…" she paused, "Campbell."

"And you are a hunter?"

"Yep. Taught by my dad and mom, hunter born and bred. And, are you a hunter?"

Astrid gave a self-deprecating laugh. "Obviously, not a very good one. I'm an investigative reporter who recently found out about the supernatural world."

"Well, the first rule of hunting. Research to figure who the ghost is and where they are buried if you can. You can't hurt them until you know where the body is," Mary smiled. "Who showed you about hunting?"

Astrid looked down. "A pair of brothers, and their friend. I ran into them when researching a case, and I found out that things do go bump in the night. So, I decided to try to become a hunter. As you can see, I'm a spectacular success."

"The second rule of hunting, any ghost encounter that you get to walk away from is a good one. The third rule of hunting, always keep your weapon nearby." Mary patted her on the shoulder. "It's a learning process. I have to warn you though, teaching yourself is probably not the way to go. It's a good way to end up dead."

"Well, I was part of a team. I got hurt, no fault of my own I might add. I was trying to save one of the hunters and took a bullet for him. Then they up and left me." Astrid shrugged nonchalantly to try to hide the pain.

Mary frowned. "That doesn't seem like a nice thing to do."

Astrid shrugged, "He's had a hard time. He just didn't want me to get hurt again. However, now that I know that these things exist, I can't let it go. I can't go back to what I was doing."

Mary gave her a calculating look, "You have feelings for him?"

"Yeah. I guess he's not ready for that."

Mary snorted, "Sometimes, you just got to give them a swift kick in the ass to wake them up. You're welcome to come with me. I'll show you the ropes, as long as you promise to do what I say when I say to do it."

"Sounds fair. I appreciate that." Astrid said warmly.

"Ok, first, we'll go, salt and burn the body." Astrid followed Mary to her car. She sat quietly as Mary drove to the cemetery. Mary's style of driving reminded her of Dean's, way too fast and with Led Zeppelin blaring over the speakers.

When she parked, Mary went to the trunk and pulled out a bag. She handed Astrid a shovel and a second shotgun. Mary led the way into the graveyard until she located the grave she was looking for.

"Now, we dig."

Mary and Astrid took turns digging until they reached the coffin. Mary pried the lid open and started pouring salt and gasoline on the body. The wind picked up and it got noticeably colder. Mary told Astrid, "Look sharp, and shoot the ghost if you see it." Mary climbed out of the grave, as the wind picked up. The ghost appeared for a minute behind Mary. Astrid aimed and shot it. 

Mary reached into her pocket and pulled out a lighter. The ghost reappeared in front of Astrid and pushed her into a headstone. Astrid hit her head hard but still brought up the shotgun. The ghost suddenly burst into flames. Mary ran to Astrid's side. "You okay?"

"Just my dignity."

"Let's get out of here before the authorities some a running." Mary and Astrid picked up the tools and headed quickly to the car. 

They returned to the orchard and headed back to the farmhouse. Astrid pulled out the EMF detector and all it found was residual traces of ghosts. Mary said, "The good news is the kids didn't become ghosts then."

Astrid returned to digging out the cellar. When they were finally able to open the door, she gasped. The bodies of the children were in the room. She hadn't saved anyone. Astrid broke and ran to her SUV, she leaned against it with her sides heaving. Mary came to her side a few minutes later with all their equipment. "Hey, Astrid, I'm sorry. Sometimes, the win is that you now you stop anyone else from getting hurt. That is sometimes all you can hope for. Let's get out of here and I'll call in an anonymous tip."

Astrid nodded. "I have a hotel room if you want to meet up there."

"Sounds good." Astrid sent her a text message with the address of the hotel.

After Astrid drove off, Mary called Castiel. 

When Castiel answered, she asked, "Is Sam or Dean there?"

"No, Mary. Sam and I had a disagreement, and I'm watching Gabe while Sam and Dean are off spending quality brother time together." Castiel sounded annoyed.

"Do you know a woman Astrid?"

"Yes. She is the cause of our disagreement. Sam cares for her but is scared to take the plunge. I pointed out to him that humans have a limited lifespan and he's not getting any younger, but he did not take that well."

"I'm on your side, then, Cas." Mary smiled into the phone.

"Why do you ask, Mary?"

"Just met her. No big deal, Cas. I was just wondering if the hunters she mentioned were my boys."

"She was more than helpful to us before Sam abandoned her. I am fond of her." Castiel sighed.

"Well, I have to go take care of some things, Cas. Good talking to you. Don't mention to the boys that I met Astrid, please."

Castiel groaned, "If I mention Astrid again, Sam is likely to use my angel blade on me. I've learned my lesson."

Mary gave a soft laugh. "You take good care of my boys, Cas. I love you."

"Love you, too. Some days taking care of them is harder than others."


	14. Reunited

Dean took Sam to a hole in the wall bar. They picked a corner booth and Dean went to the bar to get them a round of beers. He then headed back to Sam. A large guy bumped into him, spilling his drink on Dean. The man said roughly, "Excuse me."

Dean put down the beers for a moment to glare at the guy and grabbed some napkins to dry himself off. He then picked up the beers again and headed towards Sam.

"Okay, Sam, here goes," Dean said as he slid into the booth.

Sam sighed, "Here goes what, Dean?"

"I'm going to have a talk with Cas, but I'm going to talk to you first. Your constant bickering is getting to me. Don't make me pick sides." Dean said.

"Tell your husband to stick out of my business."

Dean rolled his eyes. "How many times did you butt into my business when you shouldn't have?"

"It's different."

"No, it isn't. Cas thinks of you as a brother. Since I'm his role model for being a brother, he's a dick like me." Dean sighed. "Please, Sam, treat him like you would me. Get mad, yell, get it out of your system, and don't stay mad at him. Please." Dean looked at him imploringly.

"I know his intentions are good," Sam sighed.

"He loves you, Sam. He just wants you to be happy. I'll tell him you need space."

Sam nodded, sipping his beer. He suddenly felt very tired. He rubbed his eyes. He could swear he saw two Deans. "Dean, do you feel funny?"

Dean blinked. "I think…we have been roofied." Dean grabbed his phone and pressed Castiel's number, as two large men slid into the booth next to him. One of them was the man that had knocked into Dean at the bar. The man elbowed Dean, causing him to drop the phone.

Castiel answered the phone, but couldn't hear clearly. "Dean?" He heard scrimmaging and Dean yelping and then just background noise. Castiel wasn't sure where the boys had gone. He grabbed Gabe and his lead, looked up the location of Dean's phone and took off running in that direction. Three blocks later, he saw the Firebird in a bar parking lot. He ran into the bar, ignoring the bartender's yell that dogs weren't allowed. He found Dean's phone on the floor under the booth.

He approached the bartender, "Have you seen a couple of friends of mine? One really tall, one a few inches shorter. Dressed like lumberjacks?"

The bartender nodded. "They had too much to drink, and their friends were helping them home."

"What did their friends look like?"

"Kind of burly. Not as tall as your friend, but more muscular. Both of them had similar haircuts, cropped, almost military looking," the bartender looked concerned.

"Did you see which way they went? They are not their friends." 

"Out the door. I didn't see them after that."

Castiel ran to the Firebird, pulling out his set of keys. He and Gabe climbed in. Castiel turned on the locator in Sam's phone and started following it. The men had about a twenty-minute head start, so he gunned the engine and raced to catch up to them.

\------

Dean woke up to Sam screaming. He realized Sam was chained behind him back to back in chairs in a large bedroom. Dean turned to look over his shoulder and saw a vampire slice deep into Sam's arm. The vampire then squeezed it to make blood pool into a bowl.

"What the hell are you doing to him, bastards?"

A female vampire stood in the doorway. She had sleek black hair, dressed in leather pants and bustier. "Just a small snack until the boss gets here. Don't worry, sweetie, you're dessert. We won't kill him yet. She wants to do that herself."

"What boss? What did we ever do to vampires?"

The vampire curled her lips in a feral smile. "You killed our father and our other elders. For that, you must die."

"How very Inigo Montoya of you. Are you talking about the alpha vamp? That's what this is about?"

"Do you remember his young protégé, Emily? You thought you rescued her from our father once, but she was his family. You took him from us."

Dean responded, "Hey, we were innocent bystanders. Sam wasn't hunting him. It was self-defense when he attacked Sam."

"You were aiding the British buffoons hunt our kind to near extinction. Many of our brethren perished. It upset the balance. We try to live on the fringes, but they killed many of our family. Even those who didn't feed upon humans. It was genocide."

Dean growled, "I wasn't helping them. We killed the Brits. We stopped them from completely eradicating your people."

"That doesn't matter. You killed our father. Would you do anything less than kill the thing that killed your father? In fact, you did kill it."

Sam whimpered quietly. 

"Leave him alone or I will kill all of you slowly and painfully." Dean snarled.

The vampire laughed. "We know all your tricks now, sweetie. We've been studying you for a while. You have no more aces up your sleeve."

The vampires left the room. Dean whispered, "Sam?"

Sam responded weakly, "Yeah, Dean."

"You ok?"

"Just blood loss, they wrapped up the cut."

"Got anything to pick the locks? I can't reach my pockets."

"Chains too tight, Dean." Sam's words were slurring.

"Sleep, Sammy. I'll wake you up when I figure something out." Dean said quietly, "Castiel, please put your ears on, buddy. Me and Sam are in a house, second story it looks like from what I can see out the window. We are facing the sun, so the room we are in faces west. Would really be helpful if you could come be the cavalry."

Castiel heard the prayer and continued to follow the GPS locator on Sam's phone. When he got close, he pulled into some woods to hide the Firebird. He got out of the car to approach the house, he could see in the distance. He panicked when he realized there was angel proofing on the house. There was no way he could handle this on his own.

Castiel regarded at the warded house grimly. He had no way to help Sam and Dean. He pulled out his phone and called Mary.

When Mary answered, Castiel said, "Mary, I have a problem. I need your help."

Mary answered, "With what?"

"Dean and Sam have been captured and where they are being held is warded against me. I can't help them." Castiel's voice was riddled with frustration.

"Text me the address and we're on our way. "

Castiel hung up and sent her the location. Gabe whined in the Firebird. Castiel opened the door and sat beside him, petting him. "I wonder who is coming with Mary; she said we." Gabe licked his hand. Castiel hated the waiting when things like this happened. He wanted to go break down the doors and smite everything within reach, but he was powerless. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen, Gabe. There was a time when no one knew how to ward against angels except for higher order angels. Then the angels fell, and everything out there learned too much. I suppose that is my fault too." Gabe gave a soft bark at him. 

\-----  
About two hours later, Mary's car approached Castiel. He snapped the lead on Gabe and got out of the Firebird. 

Mary stepped out of the car. She wore her traditional hunter garb; a green, many-pocketed jacket, jeans, and two layers of shirts. Her short blonde hair was tousled by the wind. Castiel headed towards her but stopped short when he saw Astrid getting out of the passenger door.

He tilted and looked at her quizzically, "Astrid? How did you…. How do you two know each other?"

Mary closed the distance between her and Castiel and hugged him tightly. Castiel returned her hug.

"I found her doing a salt and burn up near Minneapolis. You guys sending out half-trained hunters now?" Mary chastised Castiel gently.

Castiel looked at Astrid apologetically. "I was unhappy that Sam chose to leave you the way he did. I tried my best to persuade him not to do that. But Winchesters are very stubborn. No offense, Mary."

"None taken, Cas."

Astrid walked over and stood in front of Castiel. She looked at him in the eye. "I'm not happy with any of you. But, I still love you, dumbass."

The right-side of Castiel's mouth smiled slightly. He held out his arms and Astrid flew into them. He held her tightly for a few seconds. 

"So, what are we looking at?" Mary said, studying the ranch house.

"Six vampires that I know about. Sam and Dean are on the upper floor. Dean prayed to me and said they were on the side facing the sun. So, I'm assuming that room." He said pointing through the trees to the room on the front of the house. "There are wards on each corner of the house that are keeping me out. If you break those wards, I can come in and help. Until then, I'm on the sidelines. Except, I can cause a diversion."

"How?"

"Well, if we know that Dean and Sam are on the top floor, I can safely aim the Firebird on the bottom floor. It's an old trick a ghost taught me once."

"Your car?" Astrid looked startled.

"Dean can fix it later. I need Dean more than the car."

"In the confusion, I'll try to fight any vampires that actually come out of the house. You two sneak in the back."

Mary nodded, "Only we do it from the top down." She pointed to an old oak tree with branches close to the house. 

"Can I leave Gabe tied to your car?"

Mary nodded. Castiel poured some food and water for Gabe and left his lead hooked on the car's tow hitch. "Sit, stay, Gabe," Castiel told the dog firmly. Gabe glared at him but complied. Astrid put her hand on Castiel's arm, "I got something for you." She retrieved the bulletproof vest. "That should stop any angel bullets hitting you."

"Thank you, Astrid." Castiel got in the Firebird. "I'll give you five minutes to get to the tree. Then, I'll aim the car in."

The women worked carefully through the trees and then across the open space to the oak tree in question. They didn't see any movement in the house. Mary swung up on the tree first, clambering up the branches. When she was positioned close to the roof, she signaled to Astrid to start her ascent. Astrid followed her up. One at a time, they moved as close as they could on the tree to the point closest to the roof. Mary could see the Firebird appearing over the slight rise of the hill, pointing at the house's front. Mary leaped to the roof. She landed with a soft thud and crossed the roof quietly. Astrid followed her a moment later. Astrid pulled some nylon rope out of her jacket and looped one end of it around the chimney and the other the around Mary's waist. Astrid positioned herself to let the rope out slowly to Mary when she was ready to start her descent. The two of them braced against the chimney, waiting for the car to crash into the house.

Mary watched as Castiel threw himself out of the car, almost as it hit the bottom floor. The house shuddered as the Firebird tore through it. Mary slid down the roof to the window, where Sam and Dean were in. Astrid bracing herself, holding the rope. When Mary got even with the window, she swung in and broke it with her feet. Sam and Dean were chained with their backs across two chairs. No vampires were in the room. Mary pulled out lockpicks and started picking the locks on the chains as fast as she could. 

She could hear Castiel bellowing, "Come get me, you son of bitches. Where're your bad-ass bullets now?" 

Mary unchained the boys and removed the gags out of their mouths. "You guys are right?"

"I'm peachy, Mom. Sam is hurt though. Now we got to make sure my husband doesn't get himself killed." Mary tugged on the rope hard three times in succession. The rope lost its tautness as Astrid let go. Mary untied the rope from around her waist and tied it to the dresser. The door handle started to rattle. Mary pulled her machete out of its sheath. "Dean, you help Sam out since he's hurt. I'll take care of this."

Dean started to argue, but saw the look on her face and went to the window. He pulled the rope up, tied it around Sam's waist and lowered him down.

As the door opened, Mary was ready with the machete and took the first vampire out with ease. 

Dean saw Castiel running towards Sam outside the window. "Mom, we can go."

Mary started to back away from the door as the second vampire emerged. She backed up, "Dean, go."

Dean frowned but lowered himself out of the window and landed next to where Castiel was helping Sam. Mary landed next to him a moment later, covered in more blood than previously. "This way." She started walking, Dean supported Sam as they rushed away from the building towards Mary's car. Castiel took up the rear. Three gunshots fired in rapid succession and Castiel fell to his knees. 

Dean turned and Castiel growled at him, "Get Sam out of here."

The vampires were close. Dean looked panicked but did as Castiel said. He half carried, and half dragged Sam across the yard. He could hear fighting behind him, but Mary continued to lead him to the car. More gunshots echoed. 

Astrid joined up with then near the edge of the woods. Dean looked at her in surprise for a moment, and she took over holding Sam up. Sam said dazed, "Astrid."

"You got him?"

She nodded. 

Dean said, "I'm going back for Cas then. Your machete, Mom?"

Mary handed him the machete without a word. Dean turned around and ran towards where he last saw Castiel. Castiel was standing there with five vampire bodies around him. One vampire still circled him, wielding one of the electric cattle prods. They were doing a dance where Castiel was dodging from the prod while taking swipes at the vampire with his angel blade. They were locked in a stalemate that would only end when one of them made a mistake.

Dean strode up with the machete behind the vampire. The vampire heard Dean step on a branch and turned to see what it was, as Castiel reached out his hand and smote the vampire.

Dean looked at Castiel. Castiel had cuts and abrasions but didn't seem to be seriously injured. "Dude, they shot you at least six or seven times?"

Castiel opened his shirt a little. "Bullet-proof vest. Angel trumps vampire. They always shoot for my chest. Still hurts though. Astrid acquired it for me."

Dean turned to face the house and for the first time realized the Firebird was what had hit the house. "The 'bird?"

"Desperate times take desperate measures, Dean."

They approached the house carefully. No other vampires came out, but the warding was still enough to keep Castiel out. Dean went in and slid into the driver's seat of the car from the passenger's side. The engine whined for a moment from the added weight of it trying to pull itself from drywall and two-by-fours, but Dean managed to back it out of the house and into the yard. The front of the car was heavily damaged, and the left door was smashed in from hitting a bookcase. The bumper in the front hung loosely.

"I'll take this as a win. It could be worse." Dean said to Castiel. Castiel got into the passenger seat and directed Dean to where Mary's car was parked.

When they arrived, Astrid and Mary were working on Sam's injuries. Mary looked up at Castiel, "How badly are you hurt."

"I'm fine," he reached over and touched Sam's forehead. His hand glowed for a moment and Sam sat up much straighter. 

Sam looked up at Astrid. "I think I have some explaining to do."

"I know you do," she said pointedly.

"Well, let's first get out of here before any of their friends show up. Jody's place is the closest. She probably won't mind if the likes of us show up. I need to do some repairs on the Firebird before we can take it seriously driving."

\------

The group pulled into Jody's driveway a few hours. Dean and Castiel left almost immediately to take the Firebird over to Bobby's old place to see if they could find the parts to repair it.

Mary and Jody went into the family room of the house to talk, leaving Astrid and Sam alone in the living room.

"Astrid…"

"No, I get to go first. I understand, Sam, that you wanted to protect me from this life. I know after I got hurt, you got scared that you would lose me like you lost the others. I'm in this life now, whether you want me there or not. You can leave me again and hide somewhere, but my eyes have been opened. I've always been part soldier and part investigator. I've been fumbling through life trying to get others to help the people that needed help. With this, with hunting, I can fix things. I can help people. I can make a difference. Even if you tell me to go out that door right now, I'm not leaving this life. This is my life now, and there's nothing that you can say that will make me change my mind on that." Astrid looked at him stubbornly.

"l love you," Sam pulled her close. "I want you with me. I never want to be away from you again. I made a horrible, horrible mistake, abandoning you."

"That's it? I had like twenty more arguments prepared."

"You can still argue with me if it makes you feel better." Sam started kissing her. She responded hungrily. 

She pulled back a moment, "I could, but I rather do this." She started kissing him again, putting her hands under his layers of shirts.

Between kisses, Sam said, "You do know my mom and Jody are just in the next room."

"Your mom will applaud." Astrid murmured back, letting her hands roam his lower back.

"How did you and Mom meet?" 

"I was trying to do a salt and burn, and I didn't realize that sometimes the ghost fights back." Astrid moved her hands to the front of his flannel shirt, unbuttoning the buttons. She peppered kisses across his chest. "She’s mad at you, by the way."

"Hmmmm, why?" Sam whispered as he started kissing her neck.

"You only half trained me."

Sam pulled her closer, so she could look him in the eye. "Can we start the other half of the training now? Jody has a guest room. I'm guessing she won't mind if we use it."

Astrid responded, "Train away."

\--------

Castiel and Dean arrived at the remains of Singer Salvage. Dean and Sam jointly owned it but had never done anything with it. Bobby had left them everything in his will. Jody had helped put it in a trust so that it would never be linked back to them.

Dean opened the half-collapsed garage bay and pulled the car in. He looked sadly at the remains of the house.

"Can you believe it's been almost 12 years since he's been gone?" Dean asked.

"Human life is so fleeting."

"Yeah. I'm going to go take a look in the yard. I think there's a Firebird I can pull parts from at the south end."

"Ok, Dean." Castiel took off his trench coat, removed his suit and shirt and took off the bullet-proof vest. Nine bullets were embedded in it. It still hurt some, although his grace was fixing the bruising the bullets had caused. He went to the trunk and popped it. He pulled some jeans and a Henley shirt out of his duffel bag and changed clothes. Gabe looked up at him. Castiel fondly patted Gabe. 

He walked over to the remains of the house. He dug out the basement until he found the doors to the panic room. He opened the door and went inside. It was like a time capsule. There was still a scantily clad picture of Bo Derek on the wall, a cot, and assorted odds and ends. Castiel sat on the cot. Gabe followed him and sat at his feet. "Dean banished me once from here, Gabe. Sent me away so he could go give himself over to Michael. I beat the shit out of him. It's really the only time I've ever did because I was angry. I was forced to upon occasion by outside forces or when Dean was possessed. It's the only time, I ever truly lost control when I was angry though." Castiel reached down and scratched Gabe's ears. Gabe's tailed wagged happily. "They lost Bobby because I overreached. Dean's never blamed me, but it was my fault. I let the Leviathan's out."

"Water under the bridge, Cas, you didn't pull the trigger. Dick Roman did. You paid for what you did. You both died and went to Purgatory." Dean called from the doorway. "Found the parts." He sat next to Castiel on the cot.

"Dean, can we rebuild Bobby's house? I love the bunker, and of course, it's safer, but this place has so many memories." Castiel stopped talking when Dean kissed him.

"Anything you want, angel." Dean whispered.

"I almost lost you again. I don't know why the vampires didn't straight out kill you. Then, I couldn't get to you."

"Dude, you killed six vampires. You were like the Terminator." Dean looked at him proudly.

"I was like a pest-control company? Well, I guess the vampires are like pests."

"Cas, that's Terminix. Terminator was a series of cool Arnold Schwarzenegger movies." Dean laughed. He pushed Castiel down on to the mattress and started kissing him. "You know, I love it when you wear jeans."

"I know, Dean."

"I love it, even more, when you aren't wearing jeans." Dean started pulling up on Castiel's shirt.


	15. Father

The next morning, Dean was working on the Firebird when Sam drove up with Astrid in her SUV. Castiel was perched on an old crate watching Dean. Gabe ran to the SUV as Sam stopped it, barking.

Astrid got out of the car and kneeled next to Gabe petting and hugging him, as Sam walked slowly over to Dean. Dean nodded at Sam to greet him before putting his head back under the hood. "You feeling better, Sam?"

"Yeah, lots of hydration and rest. I'm good as new."

Dean nodded. "Sam, the vampire said something yesterday that I don't think you were awake for. Remember, when we were looking for the Alpha vampire back in 2011 and we found that young girl, Emily. She was human, but wanted to stay with the vampires."

Sam nodded, "I always felt bad about that, but there wasn't much we could do. We needed the blood from the Alpha vamp to take out Dick Roman, and she didn't want to be saved."

"Well, she's the one that is mightily pissed off that we killed the Alpha."

Sam frowned, "I killed him, not you."

Dean shrugged, "They don't see a difference. We helped the Brits, we killed the Alpha and all their brethren. We need to figure out where Emily is. She's the ringleader of all of this."

Castiel spoke up, "How do we find this Emily?"

Dean frowned, "Don't have the foggiest clue."

Sam looked perplexed, "How about we look where we last saw her? The house where the Alpha lived? Let's see who owned that and see what other properties they own."

"Probably angel-proofed," Castiel sighed.

Astrid walked up right then with a bag of breakfast tacos for Dean. He smiled appreciatively and went to wash his hands with a garden hose. Astrid asked, "Was this Robert Singer's place?"

Dean said grumpily, "Bobby, we called him Bobby. He was like a dad to me and Sam. He was more dad-like than our actual dad. Taught me how to play baseball. First place we'd run to whenever we needed help."

Castiel said solemnly, "He was one of the truest friends there was."

Sam went to the SUV and retrieved his laptop and started researching the house they last saw Emily at in Missoula, Montana.

"Dean, I don't think it's a good idea to just run in again. Last time, you got hurt and I got blown to Canada. This time perhaps we should actually plan a better method of attack." Castiel looked at Dean sternly.

"What happened to making it up as we went along, Cas?"

"Getting shot with angel bullets, electrocuted, and banished tends to leave a lasting impression, Dean."

Astrid smiled at them. "You two are so cute."

Dean squinted at her. "We are not cute. We're handsome, debonair, not cute."

"You're adorable, Dean." Castiel smiled.

Sam walked up. "Place is still there. Owned by the same family since 1921. I found some other houses that the same family owns, one of which is in Pontiac, Illinois."

Astrid asked interestedly, "What's the address?"

After Sam gave it to her, Astrid pulled up some pictures of the house in Pontiac. It was a two-story, older house on the fringes of town with several acres of land. Astrid pulled up the traffic cams leading on the roads that lead to the farm road. She skimmed through the footage. She pointed to a red car, "Does that look familiar?"

"That's the car that followed us into Fargo," Dean said.

"Bingo is her name-o."

"Ok, we know where the house is. But, how do we prevent what happened in Lawrence to happen here?" Sam queried.

Dean grinned, "I have a plan."

Castiel looked at him through narrowed eyes. "Why does that scare me?"

Sam replied, "Common sense. You have some."

Dean snorted, "I have uncommon sense and you know it."

Sam and Castiel rolled their eyes in unison.

Astrid asked, "What's the plan?"

Dean shook his head. "I'm not telling them until I get there."

"Why?" she asked.

"Because they'll think it's a bad plan."

Castiel growled, "Dean?"

Dean flashed Castiel a wide smile. "Trust me, babe."

Castiel and Sam exchanged long-suffering looks.

Dean grunted, "It's going to take me at least a week to get the Firebird back into shape. So, I guess we take Astrid's SUV. Cas, didn't you have any other way to save me and Sam than to wreck the Firebird?"

"I supposed I could have knocked on the door nicely and ask if I could have my husband back," Castiel said dryly. "That's always worked so well in the past."

"I'll leave the Firebird here for now. Let's go see if Jody can watch Gabe and we'll go check out that house in Pontiac."

They piled back into the SUV and headed to Jody's. Jody agreed to watch Gabe, while Mary insisted on coming with the team to investigate the Alpha's former house. They drove straight through to Pontiac, taking turns driving. When they got to Pontiac, they got a hotel room. Dean wanted to get multiple ones, but Sam insisted that they all stay together. Mary took one bed, while Sam and Astrid took the other, and Dean slept on the floor. Castiel sat in a chair, watching the stars out the window.

Dean whispered, "Cas, I love you."

Castiel got out of the chair and sat next to Dean on the floor. "What incredibly foolhardy thing are you planning on doing?"

"Grenade launcher and dead man's blood in darts."

Castiel stared at him. "You intend to blow the house up?"

Dean nodded. "Only way to do it safely. When the vamps come out, we hit them with dead man's blood. "

Castiel frowned, "What if there are innocent people in there?"

"You are going to use the grenade launcher after I go in and scout for people. I'll pray to you and let you know when to shoot."

"Dean…"

"Cas, we don't know how many innocent people might be in there, if any. We don't know how many vampires are in there. We know that they'll blast you away. Astrid doesn't have any experience. Sam is going to be overprotective over her, and get both of them killed. You and me got to do this alone."

Dean stood up slowly. Castiel looked up at him in protest.

"You know that's the way it's got to be."

Castiel sighed and stood up. He whispered, "Sam's going to be very angry at you."

They heard a noise, as Mary slipped out of bed, as well. "So, is Mom," she whispered. She nodded towards the door. "Let's go."

Castiel touched Sam's and Astrid's foreheads to make them sleep a little more soundly and the three of them got into SUV. 

After the trio left the hotel, they stopped by a morgue. Dean picked the lot and went inside while Mary and Castiel kept a lookout. Dean returned with several vials of blood.

Dean drove to a nearby park, where he and Mary filled darts with the blood.

They returned to the car and headed to the house. Castiel sat in the passenger seat next to Dean. He reached out and pulled Dean's hand into his own. He glanced over at him.

"It will be ok, Cas. We can handle this. We got this."

"I'm afraid I'm not as confident as you, Dean," Castiel responded dryly.

"I got enough confidence for both of us."

"You usually do," Castiel sighed. "You always throw yourself headfirst into danger."

Mary spoke up from the back seat, "I'll keep an eye on him."

Castiel turned to face her, "All Winchesters throw themselves headfirst into danger."

"Family trait," Dean smiled at Castiel reassuringly.

Dean stopped the SUV on a side road. He pulled out the grenade launcher and showed Castiel how to use it. Castiel looked at it in disdain.

"Ok, Cas. Mom and I will scout inside for innocents. You fire that when I pray at you."

Castiel looked at him through narrowed eyes, "Don't pray until you are outside of the house. I'll kill you if you cause me to kill you."

Dean shrugged, "Wouldn't that be a little redundant?"

The trio approached the house slowly. Castiel said, "It is heavily warded. I can't go inside."

Dean stopped Castiel. "Stay here and aim it at the front room there." Castiel nodded. Dean leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. "Be back in a few."

Mary and Dean approached the house slowly. Dean peeked in a window and saw the room was empty.

Dean quietly lifted the window, and slipped into the room. His eyes adjusted to the dark. A refrigerated cabinet housed bags of blood. Empty bags hung from medical stands. Dean whispered to Mary, "Vamps are in residence."

Dean opened the door and looked up and down the hallway. The hallway was empty.

Mary and Dean crept down the hallway quietly. A large group of vampires were discussing things in the living area, but so far hadn't noticed them. Dean continued down the hallway, listening to doors, and taking quick glances into the rooms. So far, they hadn't found anything. Finally, in a small room at the end of the hall, Dean opened the door and saw two young girls, each in their early teens. He whispered, "Are there any more of you?"

The older of the two girls shook her head no. Dean opened the window in the back of the room and helped the kids out. He and Mary shepherded the girls back to Castiel.

\-----

Sam woke up to Astrid shaking his shoulder. "The others are gone and so is my car."

"Son of a bitch. They've gone to fight the vamps without us."

"Why? Don't they trust me?"

"It's me. Dean thinks I'll lose focus, because I'll be too protective of you."

Astrid stared at Sam. "I don't need you to protect me. I didn't get hurt because I wasn't skilled. I got hurt by taking a calculated risk to save Cas."

Sam reassured her, "I get that now. I overreacted before. Dean thinks I'll do that again. Let's go catch up to the idiots."

Sam went outside and hot-wired an older car. Within a few minutes, Sam and Astrid were on the way to the house.

\----

Dean handed the keys of the SUV to Mary. "Drop the kids off in town, Mom, and come back. We'll keep an eye on things here."

Mary gave Dean a suspicious look, "Don't do anything stupid."

"Who do you think I am, Mom, Cas?" Dean grinned.

Castiel glared at Dean. 

After Mary drove off, Dean and Castiel could tell that the vampires realized the children were gone. Some came out of the house to look for them. Castiel and Dean remained hidden in the woods. When two vampires came out to search the woods, they were able to pick them off as single targets.

Dean frowned as he saw a strange car approach the monastery. It stopped alongside the road and Sam and Astrid emerged from the vehicle. Dean pulled out his phone and texted Sam to come into the wooded area.

Sam headed in that direction. When he found Dean, he muttered, "What the hell, Dean?"

Dean glared at him. "Is your mind in the game?"

"Yeah."

Dean shrugged, "Good enough."

No additional vampires came out of the house. The others must have figured out that something was laying siege to them. 

When Mary returned with the SUV, Dean looked at everyone. Dean passed out loaded dart guns. "Ok, Cas blow that place down. When they run out, kill them."

Castiel aimed the grenade launcher at the house and pulled the trigger. The house exploded. Castiel stopped to reload the grenade launcher. Dean, Mary, Sam, and Astrid went closer. As several vampires came out, they shot and took them down. Castiel could see another group coming out from the back of the house from his vantage point. He aimed the grenade launcher in their direction and they and another part of the house exploded. Dean looked over his shoulder and grinned at Castiel. The grin faded as Dean shouted, "Watch out."

Castiel turned right as a dark-haired woman used an electric cattle prod on him. Castiel twitched, and she held an angel blade to his throat.

Dean walked slowly towards her. "Hi, Emily. It's been a while."

"You killed my father, Dean," Emily growled.

"He attacked my brother and mother. They acted in self-defense."

"You were helping the Men of Letters hunt us down."

Dean sighed. "We didn't like their tactics. Do you see us doing that now? Now, we leave monsters alone unless they are hurting people. We don't hunt them down indiscriminately. We killed the British Men of Letters. We got your revenge for you."

Emily gestured towards Mary. "She killed so many of my kind. Even those who dined on animals instead of people."

Mary started to approach Emily slowly. "You are right, I did. Punish me, not my boys."

Sam said, "Mom, no."

Astrid hung back. She knew the dart gun didn't have that distance. She turned her back to the group and poured the last dart she had of dead man's blood onto a bullet. She didn't know how much was required to kill a vampire, but maybe this would slow it down.

Emily looked at Mary. "It would hurt you the most by killing your sons and not you. The angel isn't your son, but he's close enough."

Dean saw Castiel had stopped twitching. He just needed to keep her talking. "We saved vampire kind twice. The Leviathans would have caused all of you to die. And then we took out the Men of Letters. And we did save the world a few times. The way I see it, you owe us."

"For committing genocide on us?"

Sam answered, "By preventing it."

Dean continued, "You can walk away from this and we'll stop hunting you, as long as you stop hurting people."

She started slicing Castiel's throat with the angel blade. Astrid took careful aim and shot Emily in the head. Emily jerked back and lost her grip on Castiel. Castiel lunged to the side. Emily fell backwards. Castiel reached over to her head and filled her with angelic grace. Emily's body slumped with burnt out shells where her eyes used to be.

Dean rushed over and pulled Castiel into his arms. Sam turned to Astrid, "That was a hell of a shot."

She shrugged, "I can shoot a can off a fence at 200 yards. That was easy."

Sam looked around at the carnage around them, "Guys, I think we might need to get out of here." They could hear sirens in the distance. They all piled into the SUV and took a long way around back to Sioux Falls.


	16. Making a House a Home

In Sioux Falls, Castiel and Sam worked on cleaning the foundation of Bobby's house, while Dean fixed the Firebird. Castiel and Sam found small mementos of Bobby's, the bullet he had kept in his desk, the wedding ring that he had kept in his dresser, and other little bits of things that they had never had the time to go through and look for before. It was both nostalgic and sad at the same time. 

As soon as they could figure out to swing it, they were going to rebuild Bobby's house. Dean complained that he could live there when they retired. Castiel just rolled his eyes, "That will be the day after never."

Astrid fit into their motley crew just fine. Dean took great joy in that Astrid preferred cheeseburgers and beer to Sam's salads and smoothies.

After the Firebird was fixed and the foundation cleaned, the four of them headed back to the bunker.

On their first night back, Astrid moved quietly from her room to Sam's room fulltime. 

Astrid and Castiel became fast friends. Astrid would listen to Castiel tell stories about things he had seen and done for hours. Deep down, it made Sam and Dean both a little sad because they never once got Castiel to open up about all of the wonders of the universe he had seen. 

After describing watching a nebula form, Sam interrupted Castiel, "Why did we never ask you about all of this previously?"

Castiel shrugged, "We always had something more important to do."

Sam frowned at Castiel. "Even though we've known you for more than a decade and a half, we never really listened to you, did we?"

"Yes, Sam. You did when it mattered."

Sam persisted, "Then why are we just finally finding about stuff now that Astrid is here."

Castiel patted Sam on the shoulder. "When I met you two, we didn't have time to stop and discuss things that weren't relevant to the impending apocalypses. The first decade was simply a constant barrage of things that drove us apart. It's only been since then that we had time to stop and breath. By that time, I was mostly no longer a mystery to you. You 'get' me and why I'm different. Astrid is looking at me through a different lens. She sees this odd, quirky, socially awkward dumbass that she is trying to figure out that can do things she doesn't expect. So, she asks questions. When I met Dean, he mostly wanted to stab me and get me to leave him alone."

Dean protested, "Hey, that's not fair. I only tried to stab you once."

Castiel shrugged, "I wasn't as interesting then. I was pretty much an emotionless robot."

Dean snorted, "You were always interesting to me."

\------

Dean came into the library brandishing a DVD. Sam was peering at his laptop, while Castiel was reading a book about trees of North America. Dean exclaimed, "Guys, I found a copy of _True Grit_. It's going to be movie night. You got to love John Wayne. It's a classic."

Sam looked up briefly from his laptop. "Astrid and I are going into town tonight for dinner."

Dean frowned, "But it's John 'Freaking' Wayne."

"It's about 60 years old, Dean. It will still be there on another night."

Dean shrugged. "Okay, Sam."

Castiel smiled, "I'll watch it with you, Dean."

"Sure, Cas," Dean wandered out of the room.

Later, around the time they usually watched movies, Castiel went to search for Dean in the bunker. He wasn't in the kitchen, the garage, the library, the map room, or in their bedroom. 

Castiel finally found Dean shooting at targets in the firing range. He waited until Dean unloaded his clip into the target before tapping him on the shoulder. Dean jumped as he turned around.

"Damn it, Cas. I still need to put a freakin' bell around your neck."

"What are you angry about, Dean?"

"I'm not angry." Dean pulled the target close and replaced it with a new target and reloaded the gun.

"Sam and Astrid go out and you suddenly take to shooting things. That's not a normal response, Dean."

Dean sighed. "It's not rational. It's just… Sam and I would just hang out, drink beers, sit on the hood of the Impala. With just you, you always understood that Sam and I needed that time. Things are changing."

"You're jealous?"

"No, not really. It's just…different. I'm happy that Sam found someone. I'm glad they are happy together. I'm over the moon excited that Sam might get a sort of apple pie life, or as much as we can, with what we do for a living. I just miss our moments."

Castiel rubbed the back of Dean's neck. "Tell Astrid what you just told me in those words. Astrid is a very reasonable and accommodating person. She loves Sam and wants him to be happy. Talk to Sam and make sure he knows how important it is to you. Use words, Dean. It's hard, but sometimes, you need to tell someone what you feel and want instead of assuming they can read your mind."

"You read my mind."

"No, you just pray loudly on accident sometimes." Castiel put his hand on the side of Dean's face and rubbed his thumb gently across Dean's cheek. "It's Sam. He loves you. Just tell him what you need."

"It's silly."

Castiel shook his head. "It's not. It's only silly if you don't talk about it and stew in your own juices."

\---

The next morning, Dean found Sam alone in the kitchen. Dean opened the fridge door and pulled out some orange juice. "Sam, you want to do a supply run with me this morning to Salina with me? We need to drop by the hunter store there to pick up some basic supplies."

"Astrid wants to paint our room."

Dean slammed the door to the fridge with a loud thud. He said mildly, "I'll just take Cas then." Dean walked out of the room, leaving the glass of orange juice on the counter.

Castiel walked into the room a moment later, carrying a bag of groceries.

Sam looked at Castiel, "What the hell is wrong with Dean?"

Castiel looked at Sam and sighed. "I don't want to get into it."

Sam gave Castiel his best puppy-dog-eyed look. Castiel glared at him, "Stop that." Sam continued to give a sad look at Castiel.

Castiel snorted, "You are way too good at manipulating me."

"I love you, Cas."

"I'm going to regret this, but Dean is out of sorts because you spend every waking moment with Astrid. He knows it's silly, but he's Dean. He can't help himself."

"You two are always together," Sam protested.

Castiel shook his head. "No, I often let you two go off to do things together. I don't just skip going out to dinner with you because I don't eat, I do it so you two can spend time with each other without me. The difference is I understand your and Dean's dynamics. I know when to hang back and let you two be you, but that is because I spent years with you before Dean and I became a couple. You haven't been in a serious relationship in years. Dean and Astrid need to spend time together, so they understand each other better, and you need to make sure that you don't ignore Dean. He's very complicated."

Sam considered it for a moment. "We should go somewhere, Cas."

Cas squawked, "Us? You really want to make Dean mad?"

"No, I mean it. To make them get to know each other, the two of us should go do something."

"I have serious misgivings about this, Sam." Castiel tilted his head at Sam warily.

Sam shrugged. "Can it make things worse?"

"You know that if there's any possible way for Dean to do mental contortions until he takes it personally, he will."

"But he loves you more than pie. It will be okay."

Castiel sighed deeply, "Tell me what to do, Sam. But remember I did warn you."

Sam went to find Astrid in their bedroom. Astrid was moving the furniture, so they could paint the walls. "I could have helped you with this."

Astrid shrugged, "I'm perfectly capable of moving stuff on my own."

"I'm going to take Cas with me to go buy the paint that you want."

Astrid pushed the dresser across the floor. "Okay." She paused to give Sam a quick kiss. "Let's go with the sky blue after all."

Sam said, "Whatever you want, love."

\----

Dean wandered into where Astrid was working on taping the room, so they could paint it without getting anything on the wood trim. "Have you seen Cas, Astrid?"

"He went with Sam to pick up the paint."

Dean growled, "He and Sam. Son of a bitch."

Astrid looked at Dean cautiously, "Are you okay with me being here, Dean? I'm getting mixed signals from you."

"No, no, you're fine, Astrid. You're awesome, really awesome. It's just…"

Astrid stopped taping. She walked over to Dean. "There's cherry pie in the fridge. Sam and I bought it when we were out last night. Let's go get some."

"Pie, awesome."

As they sat at the kitchen table, they each had a piece of pie without saying anything. Dean started, "I don't use words very well."

Astrid shrugged, "I'm a journalist. I do. But, I don't talk about emotions well. My parents were not the most emotive of people."

Dean rolled his eyes, "My mom is awesome, but you and my dad would have come to blows. He was a dick most of our childhood, but he really loved us."

"Tell me what's wrong, Dean."

"It's just..it sounds stupid…it is stupid. I've just taken care of him his whole life. I pulled him out of a burning building when I was 4. And I'm just not used to other people taking care of him. I mean Cas does, but we do it together."

Astrid nodded. "That's what I would like to do. Take care of Sam together. Dean, if you want me to go read a book sometimes, tell me. You won't hurt my feelings. You and Sam are super close. I get that. You've been through a lot together."

Dean smiled, "You know cherry pie is my favorite."

"I do because I asked Sam last night."

"You are awesome, just awesome."

Astrid hugged Dean, "You are pretty awesome yourself."

When Sam and Castiel came home, they couldn't find Dean and Astrid at first. However, after some searching, they found the two of them shooting targets in the firing range in a friendly competition. Dean clapped Sam on the back, "Dude, she shoots way better than you."

Sam frowned, "I shoot better than you."

"Do not…

"Do too…"

Dean put down his gun and cuffed Sam gently upside his head. Sam pushed him over, and the two of them wrestled for a few minutes on the floor. Castiel rolled his eyes and looked at Astrid, "They sometimes do this. They did it in their 20's, they do it in their 40's, I'm sure they'll do it in their 60's. Let's go paint your room."

\-----

The four of them started doing hunts together. Dean still felt driven to hunt on almost a weekly basis. Sam and Castiel continued to protest, but Astrid was so enthralled with the newness of it that Dean had an ally on taking cases.


	17. Wedding Bells

Two months later, Claire called Castiel asking for him and Dean to come to visit. Castiel was at first concerned about the request, but Claire assured him that it wasn't anything bad. She just wanted to see them. Castiel agreed to come but added Astrid and Sam would be joining them as well. Claire acted like she wouldn't expect anything else.

Astrid stopped the SUV in front of Jody’s house. Castiel opened his door and Gabe clambered over him and bolted to the front door and barked. The door opened, and Claire came out. She was dressed in a baggy sweater and jeans. She ran across the lawn and threw herself into Castiel’s arms as soon as he got out of the vehicle. “Dad!”

Castiel hugged her tightly. “Hello, Claire.” He then gave her a quizzical look and tilted his head. 

Dean rounded the corner of the SUV. Claire ran to Dean and similarly hugged him. “Pop. I'm so glad you guys made it. Brandon's going to be here later.” Claire face lit up when Sam and Astrid joined them. “It seems like it's been forever since I've seen you.”

Castiel said quietly, “Four months, twelve days, and 32 minutes.”

Claire looked at him, “You goof.”

Astrid stared at Claire's hand. A slim band with a small amethyst adorned her ring finger. “Claire, are you engaged?”

Claire sighed. “I was going to tell everyone at dinner, but I should have realized you guys would notice. But, yes, Brandon and I are going to get married. We're going to get married very soon. Like this weekend soon. "

Castiel asked in a dead pan voice, “Is it because of the baby? “

"Baby, what baby? " asked Dean.

Claire’s face turned red. “How did you know about it?”

“I’m an angel. You are approximately four months pregnant. Are you getting married because you’re pregnant?” Castiel looked at her concerned. 

Dean growled, “I’m going to kill him.”

Claire balled her fists belligerently. "You aren't going to do a thing to him. We talked about getting married before I got pregnant.”

Jody came down from the front porch. “Nobody is killing anybody. We are all going to be civilized about everything. Glad to see you, boys and Astrid.”

Castiel asked, “Does this make you happy, Claire? “

“I’m over the moon happy, dad. I didn’t think I was ready, but once it happened I knew it was right. I love Brandon, and he loves me.”

Castiel hugged her tightly. “All I’ve ever wanted was for you to be happy, Claire. If Brandon makes you happy, then I’m happy for you. Congratulations. I guess I’ll be a grandfather of sorts. 

“There’s no sort of about it, dad. She’ll love you like I do. “

“Is it for sure a girl? “Castiel asked.

“Yes, they confirmed with the sex for me at my last doctor's appointment. " Claire smiled happily.

Dean growled, “He still should’ve asked first. “

"Pop, it's not the dark ages. I can marry who I want. " Claire looked at him defiantly. 

“Dean, Claire is old enough to make her own decisions. You should be happy for her. I like Brandon, He's a good man. I’m very excited for you, Claire,” Castiel assured her.

Sam interrupted, “This is really good news, Claire. I couldn’t be happier for you. I'll sort of be like an uncle, well a great uncle " 

Claire smiled at Sam happily. “I really love Brandon. I never thought I could have this type of life, but I really feel we can make it work. I had such impressive role models for parents that I never thought I could find someone who would love me as much as my two dads love each other. I was never willing to settle for less. “

Dean still scowled a little bit but was mollified by Claire’s statement. "He still not good enough for you. But I guess if he makes you happy, I'll put up with him." 

Claire left, “I guess that’s the best I can expect from you. You wouldn’t think anybody is good enough for me, Pop. “

"Nobody is, Claire," Dean replied grumpily.

Jody cleared her throat. "Why are we all talking out here, when there’s a perfectly good couch and chairs inside? Plus, I have a pot of chili on the stove. You all are probably hungry after your long drive."

Dean’s stomach growled at precisely that moment. “You must be a mind reader, Jody. “

Jody smiled, "I just know you, Dean."

The group went inside and gathered in the kitchen. They gathered around the kitchen table, while Jody passed out heaping bowls of chili.

"What about hunting, Claire?" Dean queried.

Clear stared at him. "Don't worry, Pops. I won't leave her behind in hotel rooms to fend for herself. Brandon and I will figure it out. Trust me. I know what it's like not to grow up with parents."

Castiel grimaced and looked down at the table. Claire reached over and squeezed his hand. "That was before you returned in my life, Dad. Between you, Pops, and Jody, I have no complaints now."

Castiel gave her a small smile, but pain stilled showed in his eyes. "I still wish I could change things."

Astrid interrupted gently, "When is the wedding?"

Claire gulped nervously. "Ummm, Sunday."

Dean half rose his in the chair, "This Sunday?"

"Yes. It's Brandon's mother birthday, and we thought it was a good way for us to include her in the ceremony even though she is gone. And the baby's name is going to be Jenna Amelia to honor mine."

"That's a lovely name," Castiel beamed. I'm sure Jimmy and Amelia would be very happy with who you've become."

Claire hugged Castiel, "You helped, doof."

\----

When Brandon arrived, Dean treated him gruffly. He questioned his intentions towards his daughter, how they were going to earn a living, and continued to interrogate him until Castiel punched him in the shoulder. "Behave, Dean."

Dean looked over at Brandon. "Do you happen to have a picture of your dad? And your Aunt Josie, did you call her?"

"Oh, yeah." Brandon went to his and Claire's room and brought out a family photo album. Older pictures were in the front, while pictures of him and Claire were in the back. He paged through the earlier pictures. "Here's a picture of Aunt Josie and my mom when she was really little."

Dean looked at it. "I'll be damned, it's Abaddon. Well, not Abaddon, but Josie Sands. She knew our grandfather, Henry. She was a Man of Letters too or, rather a Person of Letters, something like that."

"She passed away when my Mom was really little, but she filled her head with such stories that mom was always interested in supernatural and magical stuff. She left a journal that my mother loved to read. Mom did a little white magic, but she was mostly just a hunter."

Brandon said, "There's only one picture of my dad. You can barely make out his features. He and Mom did it in one of those photo booths." Brandon showed him the picture.

Dean slammed his fist against the table, "Shit."

Castiel looked startled. Dean bellowed, "Sam, look at this."

Sam walked over, "Who’s that with Dad?"

Brandon blinked at him. 

Dean growled, "You can't marry Claire, you're our brother. Dad did more than just Adam's mom, that bastard."

Claire looked at Dean with a scowl, "You are not biologically related to me and I'm not giving up my future husband just because your dad couldn't keep something in his pants."

Brandon looked distressed, "No one insult my Mom. She really cared for the guy."

Castiel just stared straight ahead without saying a word. Claire stared at him. "You okay, Dad. If you are going to give me grief that Brandon is their brother too…"

Castiel shook his head. "No, Claire, that's fine. I just realized that Jenna will be related to both Dean and to my biological vessel which is sort of ironic."

Claire grinned, "That's actually kind of cool."

"Just wait until we tell Mom that we have another brother," Dean shook his head.

Jody called out, "She arrives tomorrow."

"Well, Brandon, I guess welcome to the family times two," Sam opened his arms for a hug and Brandon stepped in.

\----

When Mary arrived the next day, she took Brandon being her sons' half-brother well, "I don't really know the John that you guys knew. For me, he'll always be stuck in the version I had in 1982."

There was a flurry of activity as they got ready for the wedding. Claire wanted a traditional wedding in which Castiel would walk her down the aisle in a suit, so Castiel had to find a grey suit in Sioux Falls in two days. It wasn't easy, but Astrid searched and found one in his size two towns over.

Flowers were ordered, Brandon asked Garth to be his best man, Jody went crazy ordering food, Sam and Astrid organized the reception. By Sunday morning when Castiel walked Claire down the aisle, everything was perfect. 

Castiel held Dean's hand while they watched them exchange vows. A single tear rolled down Dean's cheek, which Castiel wiped away with his thumb.

After Claire and Brandon left on their honeymoon, Castiel looked at Dean, "This might just be the happiest day of my life."

Dean looked disgruntled. "Wouldn't that involve me somehow?"

"I mean. Of all my misdeeds, and there have been many, the one I've felt the most regret was not being able to keep my promise to Jimmy to keep his family safe. Claire lost everyone. But now, she has Brandon and Jenna."

"I get what you mean. Our little girl has grown all up."

Castiel grinned at Dean, "Yes, Pop."

"Don't call me Pop."

"Ok, Pop." Castiel laughed.

Sam watching from a few feet away with Astrid shook his head, "Those two. Act like the oldest married couple in the books I think."

Astrid smiled up at Sam and kissed him.


	18. All Things Come to An End

A few weeks later, Castiel was frowning at the computer when Dean entered the library of the bunker carrying two cups of coffee. 

"What's the matter, Cas? Last time I saw you with that look on your face was when I made you dress up as Doc Holiday for Halloween."

"Demonic omens outside of Kansas City. Cattle mutilations. Raining frogs. Missing people." Castiel looked at Dean concerned.

Dan shrugged, "It's been a while since we had to deal with demons. It's probably about time we see them again."

Castiel frowned, " I have a really bad feeling about this, Dean. Can we get additional help?"

"Cas, you know me, Sam, and Astrid work better with just the four of us. "

Castiel persisted. "I just don't have a good feeling about this one."

"When's the last the did you have a good feeling about a case?"

Castiel stood up and called Gabe. "I'll be back. The information is on the laptop. Get Astrid and Sam prepared." Without another word, Castiel headed to the garage and the Firebird. 

Dean watched his back disappear around the corner. He sighed deeply. 

Sam entered the room. Dean offered Sam Castiel's untouched coffee. Sam asked, "Where's Cas headed?"

Dean shrugged, "Demon case. Cas isn't thrilled."

Sam stared at Dean. "I'm not that happy myself. We've almost lost both Astrid and Cas in the last year."

"Someone has to take care of demons."

Sam didn't bother to argue. He headed to get his and Astrid's gear. Castiel returned without Gabe. He muttered as he passed Dean, "Gabe is at the sitter's, not risking him."

Castiel disappeared into the bunker for several minutes and came out dressed in his trench coat and suit. Without a word, he climbed into the back of the SUV. Astrid took the driver's seat, while Sam took the shotgun position. 

\------  
After talking to the locals, the team had narrowed it down to two possible locations. Astrid and Sam went to check out a warehouse, while Dean and Castiel checked out a house a few miles away.

Dean and Castiel carefully entered the house. Dean held the demon knife, while Castiel had his angel blade ready. The entry room was a living room. A brown couch faced a large screen television. Two end tables held lamps. Nothing seemed out of place.

Dean gave a hand signal to Castiel to follow him into the kitchen area. The floor was hard granite tile. Two bodies were slumped on the ground. Dean looked perplexed because there was no blood pooled on the ground. Dean knelt next to one and rolled it gently over. He gasped as he noticed the eyes of the dead were burnt out. "Angels, Cas."

"They were demons," Castiel replied. "This is angel-on-demon action."

The hair raised on the back of Dean's neck. "Let's get out of here." 

Castiel turned around. Suddenly, someone stepped from the shadows and dropped a match. A fiery circle appeared around Castiel. Castiel panicked.

"Hello, Castiel." A woman dressed in a white pantsuit faced Castiel. Her hair was cut in a short, black bob. She held an angel blade in her left hand.

"Baerial, what do you want?" Castiel growled.

Dean rushed at her with the demon knife. She blocked him and threw him back against the wall. The knife went flying out of his hand. She advanced towards Dean; he climbed to his feet. 

Dean tried to tackle her to the ground, but she dodged him and hit him hard on the back of the neck. Dean went down. She kicked him in the head. Dean lost consciousness. 

Baerial pulled up Dean's head and let it drop to the floor. "You will cooperate, Castiel, or I will kill him." Castiel glared at her. His stance radiated anger.

"Put these on, Castiel." She pulled Enochian handcuffs out of her suit pocket and tossed them to him. Castiel looked at them at his feet and looked back at her.

She pulled Dean's head up again, holding the angel blade to his throat. "Your choice, Castiel. You can't get out of the circle. I could kill him and still take you."

Castiel slightly bent down and picked up the handcuffs. He fastened them to his wrists, still glaring at her. She put out the fire, while still holding the blade to Dean's throat. She directed to Castiel out the door to the back of a van. She tossed Dean into the van and then added more chains around Castiel and put him in the van. As she got in the van to drive, Castiel whispered, "Dean…" 

Dean stirred slightly. Castiel rolled over next to Dean. He nudged him with his face. "Dean."

One eye flickered open. Castiel whispered, "Drop your phone." Dean groaned and slipped his phone out of his pocket Castiel rolled far enough the grab the phone in his hand, turn the ringer off and rolled to drop the phone into the folds of a tarp on the left of the van. He then returned to Dean and willed what little grace he could muster while wearing the handcuffs to heal Dean. "I love you, Dean," he whispered.

Baerial growled from the front of the van, "Talk and I'll stop and gag you both."

Castiel nuzzled Dean quietly, trying in his hampered state to comfort him.  
\------

Sam and Astrid investigated the warehouse but did not locate anything. He tried to call Dean's phone and it went to voicemail.

He and Astrid drove to the house. The charred circle of the holy fire was etched across the floor. The bodies of the demons still laid on the floor. He saw traces of blood against the wall. "Shit."

"What happened here?" Astrid looked around in concern.

"An angel killed the demons. Then someone put Cas in a circle of holy fire. I'm pretty sure that blood is Dean's." Sam ran his fingers through his hair. "After all these years of avoiding angels, our luck has run out."

"The angels hate Castiel?"

"Pretty much. Some regard him as a hero, but most hate him because he disrupted the natural order of Heaven. He then led a rebellion against the last archangel that led to the decimation of Heaven. And then, he was used in a spell to cast all angels out of Heaven. They have legitimate reasons to hate him. Cas was always trying to do the right thing to protect both Heaven and Earth, but it had a high cost."

Sam went back to the SUV. He pulled out his laptop and started tracking the location of Dean’s phone. The phone was still moving. He handed Astrid the computer to monitor the location, while he drove the SUV quickly as he could in the direction phone was moving. 

\------

Baerial drove the van into a warehouse and closed the garage door behind her. She opened the back doors on the van. She manhandled Dean out of the van first, seating him in a chair and binding him with a strong rope.

She then pulled Castiel out and hung the chains holding him from a hook hanging from the ceiling. 

Castiel snarled at her, "What do you want?"

"What do I want? That's rich. I want Heaven the way it was before you and the Winchesters started meddling in God's plan."

"We were the ones trying to follow God's will. The rest of you were being manipulated by the archangels."

"I don't care. I just want things the way they were before the Winchesters tricked you into helping them." Baerial said with contempt.

"God resurrected me to help them. Things can't go back the way they were before'" Castiel protested.

"I know, but you've never had to pay for any of your transgressions. You always get to walk away. All the sacrifices were made by others." Bacterial walked to Dean and slapped him several times. Dean opened his eyes and looked at her in confusion. "Wake up, Winchester. I need you to watch this." 

When Baerial was satisfied that Dean was awake enough, she walked across to Castiel wielding her angel blade. She used the blade to slice Castiel's shirt and coat into shreds, yanking them off. She then walked over to a crate. She pulled out a multi-tailed whip. The tips on each tail glinted with silver. Dean realized that it was shards of angel blades. 

She grinned as she pulled back her hand and whipped Castiel six times. He bit his lip to keep from screaming out. Blue bits of grace were exposed. Blood from his vessel streamed down his back. 

Dean cried out, "Please stop."

She turned around to him, "So, I should have mercy like he gave to all of those that followed Raphael? Or those that died when they fell from Heaven? Wait, he showed them no mercy. He killed Balthazar who was his best friends among the angels. All the angels from his garrison have died. Yet, he lives."

She placed her angel blade at the top of his sternum and looked over her shoulder at Dean.

Dean yelled, "No," as the angel blade sliced deep into Castiel. Small tendrils of grace leaked out as Castiel screamed.

Baerial smiled at Dean's anguish. "I can't tell you how satisfying it to make Castiel suffer and make you watch it. How many times did he pick you over us? How many angels have died because of his loyalty to you?"

"We just want to be left alone." Dean struggled against his bonds.

Baerial grinned at him. "I don't want to leave you alone." She sliced deeply into Castiel's cheek. 

Castiel groaned in pain, "Punish me, but leave Dean alone."

Baerial sneered at Castiel, "You are making this way too easy." She walked to Dean and ran the blade up and down his arm. She then made a sudden thrust to push the blade through Dean's hand. Dean bit his bottom lip to avoid making a sound. 

Castiel pulled against his chains. "Stop it. I'm the one you want."

"No, you both should pay for what you've done to Heaven." She jabbed the angel blade into Dean's upper chest and pulled it out. She moved to Castiel and let Dean's blood from the angel blade drip onto Castiel's face. 

Dean muttered, "Screw you."

Baerial looked over her shoulder at Dean. Then, she pulled the blade slowly down the left side of Castiel's chest. Castiel grimaced but didn't scream. Baerial grinned slowly, "You will scream and beg before I'm done with you." She pushed the tip of the angel blade into his right side and pulled the blade down. Castiel closed his eyes and bit his lip. More grace escaped his body. He opened his eyes and said in a low voice, "As Dean said, screw you."

Castiel yanked down on the chains again, but they didn't give. Castiel went still. "Dean, I love you, " Castiel said evenly and then yelled, "Yes." 

Baerial looked confused at Castiel. Sam burst into the room; Baerial's head snapped to look at him. Sam lunged at her with an angel blade, which she deflected with her blade. She punched Sam, who went flying. Sam rolled on to his feet. He still gripped the angel blade. He started circling Baerial. 

Castiel yelled, "Do it." Baerial looked back in Castiel's direction and could see Astrid drawing a sigil. Baerial started striding in that direction. Astrid paused and looked at her, the sigil half drew. As Baerial got close, Astrid dropped a match. Both Astrid and Baerial were inside a fiery ring of holy fire. Astrid dived outside the ring.

Sam ran to Dean and cut the ropes binding him. Astrid was examining the chains holding Castiel. Castiel kept his eyes locked on Baerial. Astrid held up Castiel up, while Sam moved his chains off the hook. Sam eased Castiel to the floor. Sam worked on picking the lock. Astrid held an angel blade and stared at Baerial. Dean struggled to his feet and squatted next to Castiel. A few moments later, Sam succeeded in removing the locks from Castiel. Castiel immediately reached out and healed Dean. He then closed his eyes.

Dean said, "What the hell, Cas?"

Castiel's flickered open. He struggled to his feet with Sam's help. He limped slowly to Baerial. "All I wanted was to be left alone." He picked up the jar of holy oil, splashed the oil on her, and tossed a match. Dean watched in horror as the angel burst into flames, screaming. Castiel looked emotionless, as he turned towards the door and staggered in its direction.

When Castiel almost toppled, Sam caught him and helped him out. Astrid and Dean continued to watch the angel burn until she looked dead. Dean then put out the fire and stabbed with an angel blade just to make sure. Astrid seemed shell-shocked, still staring. Dean led her to the SUV.

Dean helped her into the shotgun position in the car and climbed in beside Castiel. Castiel stared out the window without acknowledging his presence. Dean tugged Castiel's hand into his own. Castiel didn't resist and after a moment, put his head on Dean's shoulder. He closed his eyes and relaxed. Dean inspected Castiel's wounds. Castiel was obviously extremely low on grace, but the wounds had closed enough that his vessel was no longer bleeding.

Sam asked quietly, "How is he doing, Dean?"

"He'll live. I've just never seen him so callously…" Dean's voice trailed off.

"Me either."

Astrid reached over and put her hand on Sam's knee, as he started the SUV and headed home. No one talked much.

\-----

When they arrived back to the bunker, Sam helped Dean get Castiel to his room.

Astrid brought a pan of warm water and gauze pads. Dean gently held Castiel while Sam gently washed the wounds in his back. To be on the safe side, Sam applied antibiotic cream and put on loose dressings. Dean rolled Castiel on to his back. Castiel whimpered in his sleep. 

"Shhh, it's me, Cas." Dean's voice cracked. A tear fell, leaving a trail down the side of his face. Sam gently cleaned the cuts on Castiel's face and chest.

Sam said quietly, "Before Astrid and I entered the room I prayed to him asking him if it was ok if we used a banishment sigil. He yelled yes, but if we had…"

Dean shook, "It would have killed him. Self-sacrificing asshole."

"You were his role model, Dean." Sam left the room to give Dean and Castiel privacy.

\------

Sam walked into the kitchen, where Astrid was mindlessly cleaning the counters. Sam pulled her close and gave her a long kiss. Astrid held him tight. They both were crying.

"Will Cas be okay?"

Sam whispered, "Physically. Emotionally, it might take a while. Cas and Dean both suffer from borderline PTSD on a good day. I've been through a lot, but Castiel absorbed most of it into himself. I'm in nowhere the condition he and Dean are in."

She nodded and buried her face in his shoulder. Sam pulled back after a moment. "This is totally not the way I had this planned, but will you marry me? I don't want to wait for a right moment. I don't want to waste a single second of our life."

Astrid looked up at him and whispered, "Is this a knee-jerk reaction to what happened?"

Sam pulled a box out of his pocket. He opened it, and showed her a silver ring with Celtic knots. "No, I bought this two months ago."

She threw her arms around him, "Yes."

He kissed her and then stepped back to place the ring on her finger.

She looked up at him, her eyes shiny with tears.

\------

Castiel became aware of his surroundings in stages. He could feel Dean close and tiny prayers that Dean kept sending out was like a constant tingle in his brain. All of his senses were dulled, and both his grace and vessel felt greatly weakened.

He could feel Dean sleeping with his hand on Castiel's hip, sleeping further away than normal. What got him in this state he was unsure of. He watched Dean sleep. Dean's face was etched with worry and he was frowning in his sleep. Usually, Castiel would use grace to make things less stressful for Dean.

Castiel tried to shift his body a little bit, but the pain in his back and sides stopped him. He tensed as he remembered the whip cutting into his back. He gasped a little and Dean startled awake. 

Dean asked, "How are you feeling, Cas?"

"More human than usual. I'm hungry, thirsty, and I might need to urinate."

Dean helped him up and to the bathroom. Castiel leaned on him heavily. After Castiel was finished with that, Dean sat him at the kitchen table. A note on the fridge stated that Sam and Astrid were picking up Gabe.

"I'll make us hamburgers, Cas. You don't get to taste food often, so we'll make it something you like."

Castiel nodded quietly. Dean kept up a running commentary as he defrosted hamburger meat, and worked on making the patties. 

Castiel listened without saying anything. His finger idly following the patterns in the wood at the kitchen table.

Dean started heating the pan. As soon as he added the burgers and the smell of the cooking meat filled the room, Castiel threw himself off the chair and ran down the hall. Dean turned off the stove and chased after him, arriving just in time to see Castiel heave what little he had in his stomach into the toilet.

Dean got a cool, damp washcloth and wiped Castiel's face.

"Dean, I killed an angel…"

"Shhhh, I know. She attacked us."

"I never should have… I always do it as painless as I can… What have I become?" Castiel sobbed as he tried to get words out.

"Cas, come on." Dean walked him to their room. "She tortured you and hurt me. We didn't deserve that. It was self-defense."

"But the crimes she accused me of were all true."

"Cas, without us, this world would be an apocalyptic wasteland. What we did what, what we became was for the greater good." Dean held Castiel gently, rocking him as carefully as possible.

Dean heard the bunker door and a couple of moments later Gabe ran into the room and jumped on the bed. He started licking Castiel’s face.

Castiel buried his face in Gabe's fur. "I'll be back in a few minutes, Cas."

Dean walked out to the kitchen and found Sam staring at the hamburgers. Dan gave a deep sigh, "Smelling the meat cooking messed with Cas' head." 

He pulled out the ingredients of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"He's hungry?"

Dean sighed, "He's one step up from human right now."

Dean looked defeated as he carried the sandwich to Castiel.

\-------

Over the next few weeks, Castiel kept to himself. His grace was coming back extremely slowly. Dean hovered around him, but Castiel only spoke to answer direct questions. He did take Gabe walks into the fields. Dean felt like Castiel was slowly slipping away from him and there was no way to stop it.

One night, Dean couldn't find Castiel at bedtime. He searched throughout the bunker and finally went outside. Castiel was lying on the grass on top of the nearby hill looking up at the stars.

"Dean, remember how I used to compare your freckles to the stars," Castiel's voice was slurred.

"Yeah," Dean laid down next to Castiel.

"Your freckles still look like stars. Or maybe it's the stars look like your freckles."

"What did you do, Cas?"

"Took extra pain meds because I just wanted everything to just stop hurting," Castiel smiled at him. 

"You're stoned?"

"Uh, generally, yeah."

Dean froze, thinking of a Castiel that had told him that before, a Castiel that had belonged to a different Dean. A Dean who callously sent that Castiel into a trap. When Zachariah had sent Dean to the future to try to convince him to become Michael's vessel, Dean and met another version of Castiel. That Castiel from that reality eerily reminded him of the one sitting on the hillside with him now.

"Cas, I'm so sorry."

"Huh, what? No, it's all good. What's killing another angel? I've killed half of the Heavenly Host by now. That's me, the renegade angel and mass murderer."

Dean stroked Castiel's face. "You did do it all for me, didn't you?"

"Of course, I did. I rebelled, I fell, I stopped the apocalypse the second time, I turned my back on Heaven for you. But it's ok, they are a sack of dicks anyway."

"You really don't want to hunt anymore?" Dean looked into Castiel's eyes.

"No, but I'll do it because you do it and wherever you lead I will follow. Into Purgatory, into Hell, wherever you go, I'm with you." Castiel reached and pulled Dean's face close enough to kiss.

"You'd even run into a building of demons if I asked you too if I thought it would be helpful."

"Yeah, if that's what it took to keep you safe."

Dean started crying softly. "I'm so sorry, Cas. I'm sorry."

Castiel looked at him confused, "You didn't do anything."

"Right, I didn't do anything," Dean stood up. He leaned over and offered Castiel his hand. Castiel let him pull him up. "Ok, angel, we're going to bed."

After Dean got Castiel back into the bunker and into bed, Castiel fell asleep immediately. Dean called Gabe to sit with Castiel.

Dean went to the kitchen and then walked into the library, carrying two beers. He put one in front of Sam and sat down in the chair next to him. 

Sam smiled appreciatively. "How's he doing, Dean?"

Dean look at Sam wearily. "I'm done, Sam. Cas has layers of PTSD. I don't think I really ever acknowledged to myself how much he gave up for us. I should have. Back in 2009, after you and I got in a fight, Zachariah sent me to five years in the future. The way Cas is right now is the closest I've ever seen him become the mess he was then. There, he had lost all his angelic powers and drowned himself in drugs. He was lost. I'm not letting my Cas become that."

"You are giving up hunting for good?"

"Yeah, Sam. If you want to continue, I can understand that. But, for me, it's time to pay Cas back for everything he has given us. His heart hasn't been in hunting for years. I don't know how many more second chances we'll get."

Sam took a long draw on his beer. "I'm good with being done, Dean. I asked Astrid to marry me. I want to a life, a real one. Where I get up, work eight hours, spend time with my wife and family, and go to bed in the same place every night."

"I am going to stay at the bunker most of the time. Cas likes it here and I can protect him better."

Sam smiled, "Unless you are going to kick us out, Astrid and I are going to stay here as well."

Dean reached over and hugged Sam. "You, me, Cas, and Astrid. We're just better together."


	19. Love and Marriage

Castiel steadily improved in the days that followed. A month later, he was back to a slightly quieter version of his old self. Dean and Sam no longer searched for cases, but let it be known to the hunting community that they would do any research and provide phone services, just as Bobby had for other hunters in that past. Dean had set up a bank of phones to field questions for hunters seeking FBI, USDA, FWS, or any other set of acronyms that people needed.

Sam and Astrid set a date to get married. They decided to get married in the bunker and had invited their families there. On the day of the wedding, Jody, Garth, Bess, Claire, Brandon, Mary, and Alex had shown up. Astrid didn't invite anyone from her family.

Dean and Sam met in the kitchen after getting dressed. Sam looked striking in a dark blue suit with a red tie. Dean looked once up and down and Sam, gave an approving nod and straightened his tie a little. "You clean up pretty good, Sam."

Sam seemed on the verge of hyperventilating. 

Dean patted Sam's back soothingly. “You’ll be fine, Sam. I got through marrying Cas, you can make it through this.”

Sam snorted, “Your wedding consisted of exchanging rings without saying anything in a barn.”

Dean shrugged, “Worked for us. You got this, Sam. You really do. Astrid loves you. She understands our crazy thrill ride. She can put up with me and Cas. She can kick both of our asses. She’s perfect. If you weren’t marrying her, I would.”

“Like Cas would share.” Sam growled.

“He might. I never asked.” Dean smiled cockily.

“The answer is no,” Castiel said in Dean’s ear as he entered the room. Castiel wore a dark grey suit with a purple tie. His hair was reasonably tamed for once.

Dean jumped startled, “Geez, Cas, personal space and I need to put a damn bell on you.”

Castiel responded by swatting Dean’s rear as he walked over to Sam. “Sam, I am happy for you on this day. I hope you find as much happiness with Astrid, as I have with Dean. Only with hopefully less frustration and attitude.”

“Hey,” Dean protested. 

Castiel tilted his head and looked at Dean. “You are often frustrating.”

“I’m adorable.”

“That does not make you less frustrating, it just enables you to think you can get away with more than you can.”

Dean frowned at Castiel, “I’m still adorable.”

Sam laughed and hugged them both, “You two are the best brothers and friends a man could have. I love you both.”

Dean and Castiel said in unison without missing a beat, “I know.”

Sam frowned, “You both just Han Soloed me.”

Castiel said, “Not on purpose, Sam.” Castiel hugged Sam tightly. “I’m going back to Astrid now, Sam. See you in a few minutes.”

After Castiel left the room, Dean gave Sam a long look. “Look at us, Sam. We got spouses, family, a house, and a dog. What the hell happened to going out in a blaze of glory?”

Sam smiled, “We both got something worth living for.”

“Just hard to believe we made it this far.”

“It’s a lot different than when we lived in the car or ratty hotel rooms, hustling pool for dinner.”

“I’m proud of us, Sammy. We saved the world and got the girl, err, angels.” Dean hugged Sam tightly.

Claire stepped in the kitchen. “Jody is ready whenever you guys are ready to start.”

Dean led the way into the library. The tables had been pushed to the side and chairs set in rows with an aisle between them. Claire, Brandon, Alex, Mary, Garth, and Bess sat in the chairs. Jody stood at the far end of the library with stands with a bouquet of white roses on either side of her. Dean walked with Sam down the aisle. He left Sam standing next to Jody for a minute, while he walked to a record player and turned it on. Led Zeppelin’s "The Rain Song" played softly.

From the map room, Castiel emerged with Astrid on his arm. She was dressed in a long silver dress. Her hair was pulled into a French braid. She carried a single white rose. Castiel walked her down the aisle to stand next to Sam. Once there, Castiel stepped aside to stand next to Dean.

Jody started, “We are here today to celebrate the wedding of Astrid LeBeau and Sam Winchester. All of us have seen evidence of their love. They now want to formalize their commitment to each other in front of family and friends. They have written their own vows. Sam, begin.”

Sam cleared his throat nervously. Dean patted his back and nudged him Sam started, “Astrid, I never thought I could have this life. I thought the cards were stacked against me. But you came, toppled the stacked cards over, and helped me rewrite the ending of my story. I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you.” Sam slipped a ring on Astrid’s finger.

Astrid looked up at Sam, her eyes shiny from unshed tears. “Sam, I spent my life looking for a purpose, a greater calling. You gave that to me. I thought I had lost everything, but you helped me find my way back. I had lost faith in humanity, but you helped me rebuild it. I love you so much. I want to wake up each morning seeing you, and go to bed each night in your arms.” Astrid slipped the ring on Sam.

Jody asked, “Sam, do you take Astrid to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

“I do.”

Jody continued, “And, do…”

Astrid interrupted, “No need to say more. I do.”

“So, by the authority of the state of South Dakota, in which we are not at but where I’ll file the paperwork fraudulently, I now present the new man and wife, Sam and Astrid Winchester.”

Sam pulled Astrid close to her to kiss her. Gabe suddenly barked and ran a circle around them and slamming into the table that held one of the vases. The vase toppled over, both Castiel and Dean dived to save it, and bumped heads together. Neither caught it, and the base hit the ground with a loud cracking nose. Gabe grabbed the roses from the vase and raced over to Mary and dropped them into her hand. Dean was sprawled over the stairs leading out of the library, while Castiel landed on his hands and knees.

Sam just stared at them. Gabe ran back to Dean and started licking his face. Dean shot Castiel a murderous look, “Your dog…”

Castiel snapped back, “How come he’s my dog when he misbehaves and your dog when he does something cute.”

Dean growled at Castiel, “Ass.”

“Butt,” Castiel responded.

Sam finished kissing Astrid and glared at Dean, “Jerk.”

Dean, under 80 pounds of a golden retriever, answered, “Bitch.”

Castiel stood up, told Gabe to sit, and pulled Dean to his feet. Castiel turned apologetically to Astrid. “I apologize for…”

Astrid was laughing so hard, tears were streaming from her eyes. “No, Cas, that was perfect.”

She hugged Castiel and Dean and then bent down to hug Gabe, who wagged his tail ecstatically.

Everyone gathered around the new spouses to congratulate them. They then moved to the map room where Dean served a dinner of chili and cornbread with a lot of beer and cherry pie for dessert. Towards the evening, the guests left until only Sam, Dean, Castiel, and Astrid remained. Astrid left to change into something more comfortable to travel in as Dean helped Sam load their suitcases into the Astrid’s SUV. Astrid and Sam were going to Florida for their honeymoon.

Dean paused next to Sam at the SUV. “So, I guess this is it. I don’t have to take care of my nerdy little brother anymore?”

“You’ll always take care of me, Dean. It’s like part of your genetic code or something. I just guess we’ll get used to spending a little less time together.”

Castiel came in carrying a cooler of smoothies and salad shakers. ” We just got a fourth wheel now, even more stability.”

Astrid came in following Castiel, “Lord knows, we need more stability.”

“I’m not sure he knows that or not. He’s pretty much an absent father,” Castiel responded dryly.

Dean opened the door to the Impala and pulled our four beers from the cooler within it. He opened them and passed them around, “Here’s to absentee fathers.”

“May we never follow in their footsteps,” Sam clinked his bottle against Dean’s.

“At least yours went missing during a hunting trip and then gave up his life for you. Mine just left the building.” Castiel clinked his bottle against the Winchesters. 

Astrid offered, “Mine disowned me for becoming a Marine.” She hit her beer bottle against the others.

Dean laughed, “The whole hunter industry is made around absentee fathers.”

Castiel tilted his head, “I thought that was prostitution, Dean.”

“Both are.”

Astrid looked at them quizzically, but Sam opened the door for her. She got in after hugging Dean and Castiel. Sam got into the driver’s seat and drove away. 

Dean and Castiel watched until the taillights disappeared in the distance. Dean squeezed Castiel’s hand. “Now, I guess it’s just the two of us.” Gabe barked. “Correction, three of us.”

“Sam will be back.” Castiel gave Dean a reassuring smile.

“I know.”

“Dean, if I told you I had fantasies involving the map table would it cheer you up.”

Dean’s eyebrows went up. “You’ll need to tell me more.” He led Castiel back into the bunker.


	20. Epilogue

Four Years Later  
\------

Dean chatted with Brandon about the bed and breakfast he and Castiel had spent the weekend at. Dean felt the familiar thud as Gabe hit his head against his leg to demand attention. Dean leaned down enough to scratch Gabe's ears. The dog wagged his tail happily.

Dean kept one eye on Castiel playing with Jenna. Castiel was blowing the seedlings off a dandelion for her to chase. When she finished chasing them, she'd return to Castiel and demand, "More, Grandpa." Dean smiled as Castiel in infinite patience would repeat the routine. 

He and Castiel talked a few times about adopting a child, but Castiel was resistant. Dean knew it was because Castiel never wanted mixed loyalties. He had always stated his plans to follow Dean wherever he went when he died, and he wouldn't be able to do that if they had a child. At first, it made Dean sad. However, when Jenna came into their life a few years ago, he viewed her as a substitute and vowed to be the coolest granddad ever. Now that Sam had a baby on the way, he could work on the coolest uncle title too.

Dean smiled as he noticed Astrid come up behind Sam and started rubbing his back. Castiel carried Jenna to them a moment later.

Castiel put Jenna on the ground, who immediately went running towards Gabe. Gabe raced in circles around her. Castiel gave Sam a worried look, gesturing towards the dog. Dean knew Castiel constantly worried about Gabe's health, and didn't look forward to the day when Gabe would be gone.

Over the past four years, Dean, Castiel, and Sam stopped going on most hunts. Instead, they researched and answered questions for other hunters. Once in a while, they would step in. However, for the most part, they had passed it on to the next generation of hunters. 

Jenna got tired of chasing the dog and ran to Dean, "Granddad, pick 'e up!" Without missing a beat, Dean reached down and pulled Jenna onto his shoulders. Dean looked around for Castiel and came charging at him, growling. 

"Ready, Jenna, we are going to go fight the tickle monster." Jenna squealed as Dean ran with her on his shoulders.

When Jenna got close to Castiel, Castiel reached over and tickled her. She exploded into giggles. After a moment, she said, "Down now." As soon as Dean complied to her demand, Jenna went running to her dad.

Dean emphatically said, "Crushed, defeated by the tickle monster again." Castiel pulled Dean close and kissed him. They looked into each other's eyes for several moments until Sam cleared his throat. Sam had his arm hanging around Astrid's shoulders and both of them were smiling at Castiel and Dean.

Castiel offered his arm to Astrid to escort her to the picnic table where the others had started to congregate to help start grilling. 

Dean looked at Sam with a happy smile. "We got it all, man. The whole package. Spouses, kids, the dog. Family. How'd that happen?"

Sam patted Dean on the back. "Hard work, sheer determination, Winchester bullheadedness, a lot of help along the way, quite a bit of luck, and an angel watching over us." Sam headed towards his wife.

Castiel laughing at something Claire said caught Dean's attention. Gabe bumped his head against Dean's leg. Dean reached to pat him. "You know what, Gabe, good things do happen. You just have to have faith."


End file.
